


Under His Command

by CrowleyLovesUSUK



Series: Team Free Will in Uniform... [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Accidental Bonding, Accidental Knotting, Alpha Gabriel (Supernatural), Alpha Sam Winchester, Alpha/Alpha Relationship, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Military, Background Destiel, Barebacking, Blood and Injury, Boys In Love, Domestic destiel, Explicit Sexual Content, Gabe Makes a LOT of Mistakes, Gabriel Being Gabriel (Supernatural), Gabriel is a Flirt, Jealousy, M/M, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Mentions of Crowley/Abaddon, Mentions of other Supernatural Characters - Freeform, Mentions of past Sam/Jess, Protective Dean Winchester, Rough Sex, Sabriel - Freeform, Semi-Public Sex, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Swearing, Switch Gabriel (Supernatural), Switch Sam Winchester, Teasing, The boys suck at feelings, True Mates, mentions of Gabriel having a promiscuous past, mentions of Lucifer/Meg, mentions of mpreg, mentions of past! Lucifer/Kelly Kline, minor (non-explicit) mentions of Sam/Sarah interactions and Gabe/random omega interactions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-07 08:15:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 62,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17362337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrowleyLovesUSUK/pseuds/CrowleyLovesUSUK
Summary: Due to a situation brewing in the Caribbean, Captain Gabriel Novak is given temporary command of the elite Unit Six.  Unfortunately for him, that places Lieutenant Sam Winchester as his direct subordinate.  Gabriel has enough troubles without adding on his undeniable attraction to the other alpha.  Despite the military rules regarding conduct between commanders and their soldiers, as well as the views on Alpha/Alpha relationships, both men can't help being drawn to one another.  With their superiors breathing down their necks, the desperation to keep their romance a secret, and a dangerous mission to focus on, will Sam and Gabe remain strong?  Or will they risk it all for a chance to be with the alpha that they truly love?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to "This Alpha's Army" which focuses on Castiel and Dean's relationship. "Under His Command" can be read as a stand-alone fic though, if you wish.  
> There will be explicit sex in this work, as well as swearing and possibly some mild violence (it's a military fic, so yeah).  
> I do not own these characters, I'm just poking at them.  
> This story is not actually finished at this time--which is weird for me. I don't like to post anything until the work is complete, but I seem to be feeling impatient.  
> This is a Sabriel (Sam/Gabriel) story. The Destiel is background and non-explicit at this time.

__

 

_Military Code #78737-429 No Alpha officer will enter into a relationship with a subordinate recruit at any time, for any reason.  No Alpha officer will enter into a relationship, emotional or sexual, with another Alpha while under contract with the military.  Such actions are considered Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and will be severely disciplined.  Any and all offenses are subject to a court-martial.  Punishments up to and including dishonorable discharge and possible incarceration._

Captain Gabriel Novak’s perfectly shined dress shoes clicked loudly in the empty hallway.  He wasn’t usually summoned to a superior’s office so early in the morning, and he was smart enough to know that whatever was coming around the corner at him might not be pleasant.  He’d received the call to report at Major Robert Singer’s office in the morning at oh-seven-hundred on the dot just before he left work last night.  However, it was Uriel’s retirement party, and that meant strippers, so Gabe was running on about three hours of sleep.

He reached the outer room of the Major’s office and smiled saucily at the private seated behind a desk.  Her scent gave off omega vibes, as if he couldn’t tell from the dark green uniform hugging her body.  She stood when he entered, and he grinned as he watched her look him over out of the corner of his eye.  God, he really was like omega bait in the white alpha uniform.  They either wanted to snuggle, thinking his shorter height made him harmless—which was a mistake; or they wanted something more fun.  It was so hard to say no, which is why he rarely did.

“Is he waiting for me?” Gabriel asked the omega.

“Yes, sir,” she smiled.  “You can go right in, Captain.”

He winked and tossed her a sarcastic salute before pushing open the door to the major’s inner sanctum.  Robert Singer was seated behind his large mahogany desk, eyeing the Captain as he slid into the room.  Gabriel walked toward him confidently and took the seat offered across from the higher ranking officer.  He glanced casually around the room, remembering the last time he had been here. 

The major had called him in to get his permission for Gabriel’s younger, omega brother, Castiel, to do a test-run in combat training.  It had been awkward, and Gabe did his best to stifle his worry in the moment, but in hindsight, things had turned out quite well.  Now Cas was mated and popping out kids, all while living his lifelong dream of working in a combat unit.  Gabriel knew that despite his reservations, that his brother was a good soldier and would thrive.  At least he didn’t share their eldest brother’s distain for Cas’ chosen mate, Captain Dean Winchester.  The few times he’d met the man, he’d found Dean to be incredibly entertaining.  Colonel Lucifer Novak, however, was still on the fence about their brother-in-law.

Major Singer leaned back in his chair and fixed Gabriel with a look.  “I’ve heard enough about you, Captain, that I’m surprised you managed to make it here on time this morning.”

“I always do my best to impress the brass,” Gabe smiled.  Most people would speak to a superior with a little more respect, but Gabriel managed to get away with it for the most part.  Having an older brother who was a Colonel came in handy sometimes.

Singer huffed.  “I’m sure you’re wondering why I called you in this morning?”

“It crossed my mind in between all of the body shots I did last night.”

“Watch it, boy,” the Major growled.  Gabe held up his hands in surrender and tried to look serious, which failed miserably.  “There’s a minor scuffle going on in the Caribbean right now.  Looks like some radicalized groups are stockpiling some nasty military-grade weapons that they shouldn’t have access to.”

Gabe frowned.  He hadn’t heard anything like that, and Lucifer usually kept him pretty well informed.  “That’s a little close for my liking,” he was suddenly solemn about the situation.

“You’re telling me,” Singer sighed.  “Your brother requested that you be given the reigns on this one.  You’re being assigned a team, with you in command.  You’re expected to head down there, infiltrate, and fix this before it gets any worse.”

“I can’t use my regular team?” Gabriel asked suspiciously.

“No.”  Major Singer leaned forward and looked hard at him.  “Two of your men were compromised on their last run, and we have reason to believe that they may be involved with this.  You’re getting a whole new set. Think of it like a Christmas present.”

Gabriel _hated_ working with unknowns.  He liked his team—they knew every move another alpha would make.  But in the back of his mind, he knew that the major was making the right call.  It was going to suck, but it would be better in the long run.  And if Lucifer had put in the request, then it meant that his big brother was _finally_ giving him some leeway.  “Who are you giving to me?”

Singer cleared his throat and shoved a thick file into Gabriel’s hands.  “Personnel records are there for you to brush up on.  You’re being given command of Unit Six out of the training base on the west coast.  All of them have worked together for years, so there won’t be much of an issue there,” Singer continued.

Gabriel tuned him out.  Unit Six.  Training Facility.  Shit.  He flipped quickly through the huge file, finding the paperwork that he was looking for in a matter of moments.  Staring up at him from a passport-sized photo was Lieutenant Sam Freaking Winchester.  His sort of brother-in-law.  At least, the kid was _Dean’s_ brother, which meant the older Winchester would hold a personal grudge on Gabe if he brought back little Sammy all scratched up.  Fuck.  He was going to have to watch the kid like a hawk, which would be so distracting that Gabriel didn’t even want to go there.

He’d only met Sam twice.  When Cas had been injured and again when his nephew was born.  They’d said, maybe five sentences to one another, mostly because Gabriel couldn’t stop staring at the tall Lieutenant.  Despite the fact that they were both alphas, which was frowned upon, he’d been struck at first sight with a kick in the gut of desire.  Gabe didn’t need the complication, and had avoided the younger man like the plague while discreetly watching him in fascination.  Why in the fuck was this happening to him?  He hadn’t done anything too terrible lately, so it couldn’t be the universe dealing out karma.  But still…Gabe held back a groan and tried to smile up at the major.  “Great.”

“You’ll have my nephew Sam under your command,” Bobby was saying.  “He’s a good kid.  Lieutenant now.  Fast learner and a hell of a fighter.  Just make sure you bring him back in one piece, okay?”

Awesome.  Now he was going to have a Major breathing down his neck if anything happened to Sam Winchester, not to mention the absolute rage Dean would rain down on him.  This time Gabriel let the sigh slip out and Singer fixed him with a look.  “Problem, Captain?”

“Nope,” Gabriel smiled.  It felt fake, and he damn sure knew that it looked it too.  “I’m excited.  This is going to be fun.”  Gabe knew that there was no way he was disguising the utter sarcasm in his voice, but he couldn’t find it in him to care.

Singer watched him for a moment before sitting back into his chair.  “Just do your job.  Get everyone back safely and remember—this isn’t a vacation.  I don’t want to hear about any ‘Omegas of the Night’ on an expense report.”

“Yes, sir.”

“My girl out front will have your plane tickets.  You’ll head to the Training Base tonight so you can all run some recon drills there and get acquainted.  You head to the islands in one week.  Dismissed.”

Gabriel stood and gave a short salute before turning on his heel and leaving the room as quickly as he could.  He received his tickets, this time ignoring the omega’s blatant ogling, and stepped back out into the hallway.  He briefly wondered if his older brother was messing with him by assigning him to this mission, but thought better of it.  Lucifer was the consummate soldier, he wouldn’t do something like this as a prank.

He looked down at the file in his hands which was still open to Sam’s picture.  He bit his lip and closed his eyes for a moment.  Singer had said to think of this assignment as a present.  Fine.  Gabriel wouldn’t mind Sam Winchester wrapped up in a bow under his tree, but he knew that line of thinking was a good way to get dishonorably discharged.  He was going to have to figure out how to deal with this mess.

“Fuck,” he muttered.  He’d deal with his confusing emotions and utter annoyance later.  Right now, he had to pack.

* * *

Sam Winchester was sitting on the couch in his brother’s living room, bouncing little Michael on his knee.  Dean and Cas’ son was growing incredibly fast, and Sam thought that he could tell a difference in the baby’s size despite having seen the kid only a week earlier.  Michael had an incredible amount of jet-black hair and shocking green eyes which made him look both innocent and mischievous at the same time.  He was definitely taking after both of his fathers.

“Are you sure that it isn’t too hot?” Dean was asking as he and his husband, Castiel walked back into the room.

Cas was carrying a small baby bottle and rolling his eyes.  “It’s just under ninety-eight point six, Dean.  I know what I’m doing.”

“What if Mikey burns his mouth?”

“He won’t.”

“Jeez, Dean,” Sam laughed.  “Overprotective much?”

“Shut up,” Dean told his brother.  “This is serious shit.  And it’s not like Cas and I have a back-up kid yet.  You know, like you were,” he snickered.

“Thanks, jerk,” Sam huffed.

“That’s a horrible thing to say,” Cas turned to his husband.

“Sammy knows it’s a joke,” Dean said.

“I do,” Sam chimed in.  “Don’t worry about it Cas.  We both know that our parents had me to make up for him being so horrible.”  Dean flipped him off.

Castiel looked dubious as he sat down next to Sam and picked up his son.  He fought with the child for a little while until Michael latched onto the bottle and began to eat happily.  “I’ll never understand the two of you,” he sighed.

“That’s okay, angel,” Dean told him.  “We’re never going to understand you and your insane brothers either.”  He turned to Sam and hesitated a moment before continuing.  “Speaking of other Novaks…”

Sam raised an eyebrow.  “What?”

“Gabriel is coming.”

“What?” Sam and Cas shouted. 

Sam felt something unwanted curling in his gut.  He’d met Cas’ older brother a few times but had done his best to avoid the smaller officer.  He didn’t like the way that Gabriel’s smirks and innuendos made him feel.  They were both alphas, and that wasn’t something that Sam could afford to even entertain, so he simply did his best to push it down.  But there was definitely something there.  Something that felt a lot like need.

“Yeah,” Dean shrugged.  “I just got a call from Bobby.  He should arrive later tonight.  He’s taking command of Unit Six for some top-secret mission to I-Don’t-Know-Where.”

“I’m in Unit Six,” Sam said pointedly.  “Were you planning on telling me that I’m going out into the field at some point?”

“I literally just got off the phone with Bobby ten minutes ago,” Dean said.  “I’m telling you.”

“Great,” Sam rubbed his eyes.  “So is it just me?  Or does he want Benny, Victor, and Gordon too?”

“All four of you.”

“Super.”  Sam’s tone conveyed that he thought things were anything but.

Cas looked between the Winchesters and tried to break the slight tension.  “Well, I’m glad for the opportunity to see Gabriel.  He hasn’t seen Michael since he was born, and I know that both of my brothers were thrilled that we named our son after my late father.”  The brothers just stared at him.  “How long with Gabriel be here?”

Dean shrugged.  “A week, I think.  He’ll get integrated with Unit Six for a little while and then you’re all heading out.  Sammy?” Dean looked at his younger sibling.  “Don’t let him push you around just because he’s Cas’ brother.  I mean, yeah, treat him like any other officer, but don’t just lie down and deal with his bullshit, okay?”

“I would never do that,” Sam said.

“I know.  And don’t let him talk you into picking up random omegas for a good time.  This is work.”

“Do you really think that I need this lecture, Dean?” Sam asked skeptically.

“No,” Dean told him.  “I’m just doing my Big Brother Duty.”

Cas smiled at Sam.  “Despite the fact that _you_ are responsible,” he said.  “My brother is not.  And he’s very good at talking people into doing things that are horrible ideas.  He finds it amusing.  Dean is right to warn you.”

“How exactly did he get promoted to Captain then?” Sam asked.  “If he’s such a loose cannon?”

“It helps to have another brother in high places,” Cas said simply.  “Lucifer has swept up a lot of Gabe’s messes in the past.  I’m just worried that one day, even Luci won’t be able to dig him out of a hole that he creates.”

“I’m already looking forward to this,” Sam grumbled.

Cas stood up and shifted Michael’s body against him.  “I’m going to put him down and then make up the air mattress in the nursery for Gabriel.”  He turned, leaving the Winchesters alone.

Dean was shuffling on his feet and staring into his coffee mug.  “I’m not kidding Sammy,” Dean said.  “I like Gabe, I do.  But just watch yourself.  I don’t like the way that he looks at you.”

“What?”

“It’s predatory,” Dean was blushing.  Sam could tell that his brother really did not want to be having this conversation.  “Just…don’t do anything stupid.”

“Dean,” Sam looked at him hard.  “We’re both alphas.  That is so _beyond_ the line that I’m sure neither of us would be that stupid.” 

Inside of his head though, Sam’s mind was protesting everything that he was saying.  He’d already entertained his own fantasies in the privacy of his room.  He couldn’t recall the amount of times that he’d jerked off picturing that smirk looking down at him.  He knew that alpha romances were frowned upon, but something in him just didn’t care, even though he knew that he would never act on his feelings.  This was going to be a horrifically torturous experience.  He just hoped that he’d make it through this unscathed.  He’d rather take a bullet than be drummed out of the military for one night that wouldn’t mean anything to his partner in the morning.  He knew all about Gabe’s reputation.

Sam was determined to keep his thoughts, and his hands, to himself, no matter what.  He had worked too hard to mess up his career now.  Especially with a superior officer.  Not to mention a man that he would never be able to escape from, due to their brothers being mated.  No matter what happened in the next few weeks, Sam was going to grit his teeth and make it through this as best as he could.

He looked up at his brother.  “Everything is going to be fine, Dean.”  But he knew that he might be lying.  Dean certainly didn’t look convinced.  Sam glanced away and turned the conversation to his nephew, leaning back into the sofa and listening to his formerly unemotional brother wax poetic about his new baby.  He did his best to push all thoughts of Gabriel out of his mind, even as those laughing eyes taunted him from the Novak family photo on the mantelpiece.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things get a little heated, but not entirely NSFW just yet...

He knew that he wouldn’t have to report to the training base until the morning, so Gabriel got a car service and headed straight to his brother’s place.  The driver huffed a little when Gabe gave him the address since it was on the other side of town, but he didn’t comment on the distance.  It was a long drive from the airport, and he dozed a little in the backseat after the scenery got repetitive.  He vaguely wondered if Sam would be there when he arrived, but he quickly squashed that down.

The attractive omega flight attendant had been very generous with the cocktails during the cross-country journey, so Gabe was feeling incredibly relaxed.  Gabriel had picked up awfully quick that the young man wouldn’t have said no to joining the Mile High Club with him, but he hadn’t acted on the unspoken invitation.  He was too preoccupied with thoughts of a tall, younger Lieutenant that would soon be under his command.

During the flight, Gabriel had poured over Sam’s personnel file so much that he was certain he had it memorized.  He’d barely spared a glance at the other three men he would be taking charge of.  He figured that he would just play it by ear.  The entire time he read about the younger Winchester, Gabriel told himself that he was simply curious about his brother-in-law’s sibling and that was it.  He knew it wasn’t true, but he wasn’t going to go there.

When they finally pulled into the driveway to Dean and Castiel’s house, Gabriel was bordering on being horribly grumpy due to being forced to sit all day long.  He paid the driver and grabbed his bag, taking the time to stretch a little before heading up to the house.  He had just raised his hand to knock when the door swung open.  Sam was standing there, his large frame taking up so much space and looking incredibly handsome.  Gabriel blinked and tried not to worry his lip as he took in the larger man.  “Oh hey,” Sam said.  His voice was casual, but there was a hard set to his eyes.  “They didn’t expect you for another hour.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I’m just heading out,” Sam explained.  “Hey, Dean!”  He called back into the house.  “Gabe is here.”  He glanced down at Gabriel, but wouldn’t quite meet the man’s eyes.  “I have to go.”

“Why?” Gabriel pressed.  He didn’t want to be pushy, but now that he had the man he’d been obsessing over right in front of him, he wasn’t inclined to say their goodbyes just yet.  “I just got here—we should probably get to know each other a little better.”

Sam shifted uneasily, as though he wasn’t sure how to respond to that statement.  Dean came around the corner and poked his head out, attempting a smile at the other officer.  “Hey Gabriel,” Dean said.  “Come on in.  Cas is dealing with Mike right now, but he should be out soon.”

“How is the little monster?” Gabriel slid past the brothers and entered the house.

“Growing too fast,” Dean smiled.  “You won’t recognize him, I swear.”  He glanced at his brother.  “Sam, you still heading out?”

Sam looked at Gabriel and something passed between them.  Gabriel couldn’t help himself and shot the younger man a grin, asking a question with his eyes.  “I guess I could stay for dinner,” Sam said quietly.

“Awesome,” Dean didn’t seem to notice anything and led them all into the kitchen.

Dean and Gabriel began chatting away about the shorter man’s flight, while Sam hovered in the background, trying not to stare too much.  Cas came out a little while later, holding Michael who was drooling onto his shoulder.  Gabe’s eyes lit up at the sight of his nephew and he held out his arms to Castiel.  “Let me see the little bug,” he said happily.

He had just taken a hold of Michael when the baby coughed harshly, spitting directly into Gabriel’s face.  He silently handed the child back to his father and took a paper towel from Dean with a glare.  “Well, that was awful,” Gabriel commented, wiping his face. 

Dean was trying to hold in a laugh.  “He’ll warm up to you eventually,” Dean chuckled.

Gabriel was examining the spit soaked tissue with disdain.  “This is why I’m never going to have kids,” he said.  “They’re too messy.”

Sam could feel himself holding his breath.  Alphas were almost biologically wired to want to find an omega to mate and breed—it was rare for one to actively decide against a family.  Did that mean that Gabriel wasn’t a traditionalist?  Sam could feel hope rising in him at the thought and immediately squashed it back down.  The other alpha may not want to procreate, but he most likely wanted an omega in his bed—not another alpha bringing undue complications.  “Yeah, Sam says the same thing,” Dean was telling them.

Gabriel fixed Sam with an indecipherable look.  “I’m right there with you, kiddo.  I’d much rather be the cool uncle.”  He smiled at Cas.  “Then I can spoil the little bastard and give him back when he starts crying.”

“Do not give my child candy,” Cas warned him.  “I know you.  You would get him all hyped up on sugar and then disappear.”

“You wound me,” Gabe laughed.  But he didn’t deny it.

They all pitched in to make dinner, everyone catching up on one another’s lives.  Sam stayed off to the side and tried to keep his distance from Gabriel as much as possible.  The older man would shoot him a look occasionally that let Sam know that Gabe knew _exactly_ what he was doing.  But Gabriel never called him out on it, and seemed to be doing his best to avoid Sam as well.

They ate quickly and polished off a bottle of wine as the sun began to set behind the horizon.  Cas and Dean left to put Michael down for the night, leaving Sam and Gabe to clean up.  “You okay, kiddo?”

“What?”  It was slightly uncomfortable to be alone with Gabriel and Sam realized that he’d been washing the same plate for a few minutes.  “No, I’m fine,” he managed.

“You’re jumpy,” Gabriel observed.  “That’s not a good thing in the field you know.  You’re going to have to be comfortable around me when we’re in the thick of it.  I’m not going to take you if you can’t even look at me.”

“You’re not looking at me either,” Sam pointed out, wincing at how whiny he sounded.

“Touché,” Gabe laughed.  “I’m keeping my distance for a very good reason.”

“And what’s that?” Sam was struck with a flash of bravado.  If Gabriel was uncomfortable as well, then what did that mean?

“Better that you don’t know, kiddo,” Gabriel smiled and turned away.

Now Sam was really curious.  “Come on,” he said.  “If we’re going to be working together, we might as well be honest.”  He heard himself say the words, but he knew that he was being reckless.  He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear whatever it was that Gabriel was thinking.  Too late now.

Gabriel put away the dish he was drying and turned to look at Sam, leaning on the countertop.  “I’m attracted to you,” he said bluntly.  “It’s wrong.  Not only because we’re both alphas, but because I’m going to be your commanding officer for a while.  So, yeah, I’m keeping my distance.”

Sam’s mouth went dry and he blinked stupidly.  He had _not_ seen that coming.  Gabriel liked him?  Like— _liked_ him?  That was not something Sam could even wrap him mind around at this moment.  He’d heard enough from Cas that Gabe usually had a new and willing partner in his bed every night of the week, so obviously, he wasn’t into Sam for anything long-term.  It still stunned him.  The fact that, despite the issues of their secondary gender, there was a chance.  Sam shook his head.  He knew that was a dangerous path to go down.  “Uh…”

“Don’t get freaked out, kiddo,” Gabriel tried to smile, but it wasn’t convincing.  “I’m not going to act on it.”

Before Sam could stop himself, he blurted, “What if I’d want you to?”

Gabe raised his eyebrow and really looked at Sam.  He opened his mouth, but clamped it shut with a click when Dean and Cas wandered back into the kitchen.  “He’s finally asleep,” Cas groaned.

“Sorry guys,” Dean said.  “That took much longer than usual.  I think he’s worked up from all the excitement.  He needed three stories and about twelve thousand hugs.”

“I should get going,” Sam said suddenly.  “It’s pretty late.”

Dean nodded and Cas glanced over at his brother who was still staring at Sam with a shocked look on his face.  “I have the air mattress all made up for you,” Cas told Gabriel.  “Unfortunately, it’s in the nursery with Michael, so you’ll have to be very quiet.”

Gabriel shifted a little.  “I was thinking,” he started.  “That in the interest of getting to know each other better before we take off for parts unknown, that I would stay with Sam,” Gabriel said, glancing at the younger man.  “I mean—if he’s okay with it?”

Sam found himself nodding mutely.  This was a terrible idea.  Sam knew that, but he couldn’t stop himself from agreeing.  “Great!”  Gabe snatched up his bag from the corner and fixed Sam with a look.  “No time like the present to start bonding, is there?”

Sam forced himself not to read anything into Gabriel’s choice of words.  “No,” he stammered.  “That’s fine.”  He looked at Dean who was eyeing them suspiciously.  “We should probably get going.  We have to report in pretty early tomorrow.”

“Yeah, okay,” Dean said.  He looked over at Gabriel and glared at the other Captain.  “No corrupting my brother.  That means no strip clubs.”

“I would never—“

“Yes, you would,” Cas broke in.

“We’ll just go back to my place and call it a night,” Sam tried to placate them.  “Sound good to you?” he asked Gabe.

“Sounds perfect,” Gabriel smiled at him.  Their eyes locked for a moment too long and Sam cleared his throat.  They told Dean and Castiel goodbye and headed out to Sam’s car.  Gabriel whistled when he saw the 1973 Dodge Charger waiting for them.  “Nice,” he complimented.  “I hope this car isn’t compensating for something,” he joked.

“It’s not,” Sam assured him.

They got in and started on their way back to town.  Sam lived in a small apartment off base that he had recently moved into.  It wasn’t a long drive, but it felt like time was stretching.  Neither man really spoke to one another, Sam concentrating on the road and Gabriel staring out of the window.  Sam pulled into the lot and parked in his assigned space.  Gabriel looked up at the building, but didn’t say anything.

When he unlocked his apartment, Sam was grateful that he’d done some cleaning before heading to Dean’s that morning.  He was usually pretty tidy, but he wasn’t sure what Gabriel would think if he still had dirty dishes in the sink.  He was sure that the other man probably wouldn’t care in the slightest.  “I don’t have two rooms,” Sam said apologetically.

“I can fit on the couch,” Gabriel told him.  Sam bit back a retort about how he was aware of that, due to the other man’s shorter stature.

Gabriel tossed his bag onto the floor and flopped down on the sofa, sighing heavily.  “Fuck, I hate travelling,” he commented.  He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a large chocolate bar.  Before Sam could even register what was happening, Gabriel had eaten almost half of it in two bites.

“We just had dinner,” Sam pointed out.  “How can you still be hungry?”

“This is dessert,” Gabriel said.  He gave Sam a strange look.  “I’m not going to bite you.  Relax.”  He patted the seat of the sofa next to him and raised an eyebrow.

Sam rolled his tongue around in his mouth, thinking.  He knew he should just go to bed, but he felt his feet moving; and then he was sitting next to the Captain, their thighs brushing lightly.  This was so wrong.  Probably the worst idea that either of them had ever had in their lives.  “Penny for your thoughts?”

“Were you just messing with me back at Dean’s house?” Sam found himself asking.

Gabriel chewed his candy thoughtfully.  “About me being attracted to you?”

“Yeah?” Sam fixed him with a look.  “I mean, it kind of came out of nowhere and Cas says—“

“Cassie gossips about me too much,” Gabriel interrupted.  “Plus, he’s my brother, and therefore doesn’t know as much about me as he thinks.”

“He says you’re kind of…”

“A man-whore?” Gabriel laughed.  Sam nodded, embarrassed. “I’m sure he does.  I mean, yeah, I enjoy a good time and all that.  But I don’t hop from person to person as much as he thinks I do.  I’m not nineteen anymore.  Maybe I embellish my conquests a little bit so that my shy, reserved, _married_ brother can live vicariously.”

“Why did you come home with me?” Sam wondered.

Gabriel shrugged and looked incredibly guilty.  “I said I wasn’t going to act on it, but I couldn’t help myself.  I wanted you all to myself for a little while.”

Sam looked doubtful.  “This is a bad idea,” he said finally.

“You’re telling me,” Gabriel sighed and ran his hand through his hair.  “You don’t think I’ve thought about the consequences of starting something with you?  Because I have.  It’ll be a shit-show all around.”

Sam could tell that something was being left unsaid.  “But,” Gabriel turned to him.  “That doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be worth it.”

“You’d risk your entire career for a quick fuck?”

“No,” Gabriel said dully.  “I don’t think of you like that, Sam.  Which is why this is an even worse idea than either of us can comprehend.”

“So?” Sam trailed off, waiting for the other alpha to continue.

“So, we’re not going to do anything,” Gabriel’s hand reached out and lightly stroked Sam’s kneecap.  “Are we?”

“Definitely not,” Sam agreed, even as he inched closer to the other man.

“It would be a mistake on _so_ many levels,” Gabriel’s hand was running through Sam’s hair now and the taller man knew that he didn’t want it to stop.

“Yeah,” Sam said.  “We can keep this professional.”

“Exactly,” Gabriel’s face was inches away and both men were breathing hard. 

Sam touched the Captain’s sides and brushed his fingers along Gabe’s torso.  “Nothing will happen between us.”

“No,” Gabriel leaned in.  “Never.”  He brushed his lips to Sam’s and there was an instant of hesitation before both of them were clawing at each other desperately.

Their tongues stroked into each other’s mouths and their hands explored planes of taut muscle beneath their clothes.  “You have terrible self-control,” Sam gasped.

“I’m aware of that,” Gabriel kissed him firmly.

The smaller officer climbed up over Sam’s legs and settled into his lap, their touch never breaking.  They moved frantically, rocking their hips together.  Gabriel bucked into him and Sam could feel the other alpha’s arousal.  As though a light was switched, he pulled his hands off of Gabriel’s body and shrunk back into the couch.  Gabe pulled back and looked at him quizzically.  “What?”

“I can’t do this,” Sam blurted out.  He tucked his hands under Gabriel’s arms and lifted him bodily off of him. 

Gabe tilted as he was practically tossed down onto the couch.  Sam leapt up and looked absolutely horrified and completely debauched.  Gabriel smirked up at him.  “Too much for you?”

“You agreed that this was a mistake,” Sam said, trying to control his breathing.

“I also decided that Past-Me was an idiot once I finally got a taste of you, kiddo,” Gabriel told him lightly, despite the fact that he was beginning to frown.

Sam was pacing around the small space of the living room looking dismayed.  “We could get into so much trouble,” he was saying.

Gabriel didn’t like where this was going.  A minute ago, he’d been curled around the hottest man he’d ever seen, and now, said guy was in the throes of a panic attack.  Not that Gabe really blamed him.  Sam was right—this _was_ a huge mistake.  But Gabriel was rethinking a lot of things while he’d been kissing Sam, and he wasn’t so sure that he didn’t want to just dive right in and see what happened.  He hadn’t had such a good time making out in years, maybe ever.

“There’s a blanket in the closet by the door,” Sam blurted out.  “I’m going to bed.  Alone.  I’ll see you in the morning, _sir_.” 

Okay, that hurt.  Gabe wrinkled his nose at the word Sam tacked onto the end of his sentence and watched the kid practically sprint down the hall, slamming his bedroom door.  Great.  The one time that he really should have kept his hands to himself, he’d blown it—and not in the fun way.  This was going to make things so much worse if they were going to have to work together.

Gabriel got up and found the spare blanket.  He curled up on the couch in the dark and snorted.  He was such an ass.  There was nothing he could do but try to catch some shut-eye and hope that by morning Sam had calmed down.  If things were awkward between them in the morning, that could spell disaster.  Neither of them could afford for their minor indiscretion to get out.  It would ruin them both.

Gabriel tried to close his eyes, but all he could see was Sam.  It was agonizing, knowing how much he _wanted_ and that he couldn’t actually _have_.  He tossed and turned all night, unaware that in the next room, Sam was having just as much trouble pushing their kisses from his own mind.  Both men woke up in bad moods.


	3. Chapter 3

In the morning, the two alphas danced around one another, not making eye contact and speaking as little as possible.  Sam tried to distract himself by making some breakfast while Gabriel used the shower, but he kept picturing the smaller man all soaped up and it put him in an embarrassing predicament.  He was wholly unaware that Gabriel was having issues of his own and using Sam’s shower to ease his own pain.

Once they were both dressed in their white alpha uniforms, they left.  Sam pulled into a drive-through for coffee and gaped at Gabriel when the smaller man ordered four breakfast sandwiches and a handful of hash browns.  “Where do you put all of that food?”

“I have a high metabolism,” Gabriel shrugged, pulling out one of his meals.  “Plus, I’m very physical.”

“Don’t,” Sam warned him as they pulled out into traffic.

“What?” Gabriel’s voice was laced with innocence.

“You know what,” Sam grit his teeth.  “No innuendo.  No flirting.  Definitely no touching.  We agreed that this wasn’t going to happen.”

“I never agreed to that,” Gabriel pointed out.  “But sure, whatever you say, kiddo.”  He busied himself with his food and Sam pointedly ignored him for the rest of the drive.

They were quickly cleared by the beta guards at the gate and drove onto the base.  Gabriel finished his breakfast just as they pulled up to the training building.  He wiped his hands onto his pants, leaving behind small grease stains and Sam rolled his eyes.  “Relax kiddo,” Gabriel sighed as they walked up to the building.  “I’m not going to do anything stupid—especially in front of anyone.”  He looked pointedly up at Sam’s face.  “I happen to agree with you that this would be monumentally stupid—I just don’t know how well I can keep pushing this all down.  Just…fucking chill and we can talk about it later, okay?”

Sam turned and walked away.  He could hear Gabriel following him, muttering, but he didn’t turn around.  Dean had asked last night to meet with them in the conference room, so that’s where they headed.  Sam took the stairs two at a time with Gabriel scrambling to keep up with him.  Sam found that he took a little perverse pleasure in that.  Once they reached the second floor, Gabriel was glaring at him, but he didn’t say anything.

The other higher ranking members of Unit Six, Benny and Victor were waiting for them when they arrived.  Dean was also there, and he gave Sam an odd look when the two of them walked in; but he didn’t comment, and Sam didn’t volunteer.  The alphas all greeted one another and made idle chit-chat until Gordon finally came waltzing in over five minutes late.  Dean dressed him down for a while after that, which meant, by the time they actually started working, they were almost a half an hour behind schedule.

“Listen up,” Dean looked at each of them.  “As your regular commanding officer, I’m going to remain as involved with this op as much as I’m allowed.  For the time being though, you are all going to be reporting to Captain Gabriel Novak,” he looked at Gabe who had his feet up on the table.  “Do you mind?” Dean glared at him.

“Not at all.  Please continue,” Gabriel smiled and pulled a chocolate bar out of his pocket, unwrapping it.  Sam’s eyes bugged out.  He’d just watched the man put away about two thousand calories worth of breakfast food and now he was eating candy!

Since he was sitting next to Gabriel, Sam reached up and shoved the Captain’s boots off onto the floor without thinking.  Everyone stared in shock.  Gabe’s mouth was open and it was obvious that he was both upset, yet trying not to laugh.  “You know I outrank you, right?” he finally said.

“I’m aware,” Sam said dryly.  He turned back to his brother.  “Now, please continue.”

“You’re going to be trouble, I can just tell,” Gabe muttered so that only Sam could hear him.

Dean went around the table, introducing the members of Unit Six to Gabriel.  Sam, Benny and Victor had been working together for almost four years and they were a well-oiled machine.  Gordon, a newly demoted private, had joined them a few months back.  He used to have command of his own unit, but an attempted assault on Castiel, back when the omega Lieutenant had first arrived, got the man busted back in rank.  The fact that he was now at the bottom of the pecking order didn’t sit very well with Gordon, and he caused as much trouble as he possibly could.  Sam noticed Gabriel watching Gordon critically out of the corner of his eye and he could tell right away that the Captain didn’t like the Private one bit.

“All right, I’m going to step out so Captain Novak can brief you all,” Dean said.  “I’ll be back in three hours and we can break for a quick lunch.  If I find out that any of you aren’t following orders, I will personally kick your asses back to basic training, understood?”

“Yes, sir,” They all chorused, although no one sounded very concerned or serious.

“They’re all yours, Gabe,” Dean smiled at his brother-in-law.

Once Dean had left, Gabriel put his feet back up onto the large table and stared them all down for a bit.  He pulled out another chocolate and ate it slowly while watching them.  No one spoke for a while until Sam finally couldn’t take it anymore and turned to look at the man who’d slept on his couch.  “Are you serious?  Where are you getting all of this candy?”

“None of your concern,” Gabriel smiled at him.

“You know that much sugar is terrible for you, right?” Sam was staring.

Gabriel bit off a large piece and grinned while chewing.  “Don’t worry Samshine,” he said.  Sam rolled his eyes.  “I’ll make sure to keep my svelte figure, just for you.”

Sam placed his head in his hands and mumbled, “Shut up.”

Gabriel just laughed at him and turned to Victor.  “I hear you’re pretty good with explosives.”

“Very good, sir,” Victor was succinct and to the point on literally everything.  He was also a model alpha soldier.

“Excellent,” Gabriel swung his legs down and crumpled up his candy wrapper.  “We’ll definitely need that.”

“What exactly are we going to be doing, sir?” drawled Benny.

“Glad you asked,” Gabriel reached into his bag and pulled out a few files.  He flung them haphazardly around the table to each man.  “I hate explaining things because it’s boring.  So read through that and let me know if you have any questions.”

“I have a question?” Sam spoke up.

“Shoot.”

“Both Benny and I are ranking among our unit,” Sam began.  Benny had recently been promoted up from Sergeant last year.  “Who will be running point as your right hand for this op?”

Gabriel went silent and slid his eyes between the two alphas, pretending to think.  “I’ll go with you, kiddo,” he said.  “Is that all right?”  Sam glanced at Benny, who nodded and he turned back to Gabriel and did the same.  “Okay, now read.”  They all flipped open their folders while Gabriel pulled out another chocolate bar.  Sam reached over and smacked it out of his hand.  It flew across the room and hit the far wall.  “You’re going to replace that,” Gabriel said to him.  “That was my favorite.”

“I’m sure they’re _all_ your favorite,” Sam muttered.  Louder, he said, “Sure.  We can stop for some on the way home.”

The other three members of Unit Six snapped their heads up and looked at them.  Sam saw Benny lifting his eyebrows and he realized how he had sounded.  “I mean,” he glanced at Gabriel was grinning and not saying a freaking word.  “Gabe…I mean, Captain Novak…he’s staying with me because, um,” Sam looked at Gabriel once more.  The Captain just wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and kept his mouth shut.  “He’s Cas’ brother, so he’s staying at my house.  On the couch, of course.  I mean, there’s nowhere else for him to stay at my place except…my…couch.”

Gabriel finally took pity on him and placed his hand on Sam’s wrist, cutting off his babbling.  “Don’t hurt yourself, kiddo,” he chuckled.

Sam flushed deeply and buried his nose in the file.  He could feel the other eyes in the room on him for what felt like hours.  Finally he chanced a glance up and saw that no one was looking at him anymore except for Gabriel.  The Captain was smiling softly at him with a knowing look in his eyes.  Sam ducked his head down again and proceeded to ignore everything except his briefing.

When they were all caught up, they sat around the conference table shooting questions at Captain Novak.  He answered almost everything with ease, only hesitating on a few points.  There was a new organization located down on an island in the Caribbean who had amassed a large amount of ordnance from the black market.  Some intelligence gathering had opened up the idea that they were planning to hit a major target somewhere in the States.  Unit Six was being sent in to neutralize the threat, hopefully quietly.  Gordon kept making comments about just going in, guns blazing, which earned him a withering look from Victor.  “That could be dancing across the line into ‘war crimes’ territory,” the stern Sergeant had said to Gordon.

They hadn’t realized how long they had been working until Dean returned, announcing that they should break for food.  It didn’t take long to figure out arrangements for transportation to their usual place.  Dean, Benny and Victor left right away in Dean’s Impala, while Gordon opted to drive alone.  That left Sam and Gabriel to follow in Sam’s car.

The drive to The Roadhouse wasn’t a long distance from the base.  Sam pulled out of the base gates, trying not to glance over at Gabriel.  It didn’t work.  He slid his eyes over and found the Captain watching him.  “Kind of stuck your foot in your mouth back there, didn’t you?” Gabriel observed.

“Sorry,” Sam grunted.

“Don’t do it again,” Gabriel said.  “I mean, it _was_ funny.  But whatever we have going on here, can’t get out.  Ever.”

“There’s nothing going on,” Sam insisted.  _Liar._ “And I don’t want anything to be going on either.” Oh, he was going to hell for lying.

“You have a shitty poker face, kiddo,” Gabriel laughed.  “Okay, fine.  Nothing happened last night apparently.  For you.  Not so much the case for me.”

Sam took his eyes off the road for a split second and saw the grim set of Gabriel’s mouth.  His brain dug up flashes of the previous night, taunting Sam with all of the things that mouth could do.  “You, um…”

“Felt the earth move?  Yeah,” Gabriel’s tone was snappy. 

“That’s messed up,” Sam said finally.

“You didn’t feel anything?  No spark?  Nothing?” Gabriel was incredulous.  “Because it sure didn’t feel one-sided to me.”

Sam didn’t respond as he pulled into the Roadhouse’s parking lot.  He angled his car in and switched it off.  They sat, unmoving in the car for a moment.  He looked up and found Gabriel watching him again.  The Captain reached over and set his palm on Sam’s thigh.  Both of their breath caught and Sam found himself leaning in, even as his brain was screaming to stop.

“Hey!” They jolted away from one another as Dean called from the door of the restaurant.  The older Winchester hadn’t seemed to notice anything untoward, but Sam’s hands were still shaking.  “Hurry up!”

“Yeah,” he called out to his brother.  Sam practically bolted from the car, almost forgetting to lock it.  Gabriel followed at a more sedate pace, sauntering up the steps to the door.  The others had already claimed a large table in the middle of the room and were giving Jo, the waitress, their drink orders.  Sam grabbed an empty chair next to his brother and pointedly ignored Gabriel sinking into the seat next to him.

“Diet, Sam?” Jo smiled down at him.

“Thanks, yeah,” he said stiffly.

She moved around the chairs and looked at Gabriel.  “What can I get for you Captain?”

He grinned at her saucily, and Sam could see him subtly scenting the omega waitress.  He was surprised at how much it rankled.  “Hey there,” he said.  “How are you today?”

“I’m great,” she was friendly, but subtly shutting down Gabe’s flirtations.  Jo had plenty of experience fending off alphas in her line of work.

Gabriel seemed to decide that she wasn’t interested and turned back to his menu.  “I’ll take a lemonade,” he said.  “Lots of sugar—just pour in about a half a bag please.”  She raised her eyebrows but agreed, moving off to put in their drink orders.

“You’re going to get diabetes,” Dean laughed at the other Captain.  “I mean, Cas said you have a sweet tooth, but I didn’t really believe him.”

“I like lots of sweet things,” Gabriel replied smoothly, shooting a quick glance at Sam.

Whatever Dean was going to say was interrupted by Jo returning with their beverages.  She set down a Tupperware full of sugar in front of Gabriel with a spoon sticking out of it and his eyes lit up.  Sam was pretty sure that he dumped half of the container into his glass, before stirring it all up.  He shook his head.  That was disgusting, and he couldn’t even think about how unhealthy that amount of sweets was to the human body.

They ordered food, burgers all around, and began to talk about different things; none of which pertained to work.  Sam kept fidgeting and shifting his chair closer to Dean throughout the meal.  His brother narrowed his eyes at him after a particularly big scoot away from Gabriel and Sam flushed.  None of this was helping.  All he was doing was making things _more_ obvious and awkward.  He had to pull himself together no matter what.  Even Gordon was giving him funny looks by now, and that didn’t bode well.

“Damn Winchester,” Gordon drawled.  “I doubt the Captain is going to waste his time feeling up another alpha—especially when such a pretty, little omega is right here for the taking,” he leered up at Jo, who was passing out their food.  “When do you get off sweetheart?  I’m sure I could help you with that.”

Sam and Dean both glared at Gordon, about to cuss him out, but they were beaten to the punch by Gabriel, whose voice was low and brittle.  “There’s a fine line between flirting and harassment, and you’re crossing it _Private_.”  He was staring the larger man down.  “Apologize.  Now.”

Gordon was smart enough to sense the seriousness of the new Captain’s tone and stuttered out a half-assed apology to Jo.  She ignored Gordon and smiled thankfully at Gabriel who was still glaring at the other alpha.  Once she was gone, everyone got very preoccupied with their food, trying to forget the minor confrontation.  Soon enough, they were all—minus Gordon—laughing and joking around once more.

Once they’d eaten their fill, Dean paid for everyone, insisting he could expense it to the base and they got up to leave.  Sam walked out to his car quickly without a backwards glance.  He was surprised to find that Gabriel hadn’t followed him.  When he looked around, he found Gabe and his brother on the corner of the Roadhouse’s porch talking quietly together.  Both of them looked agitated.  Eventually Gabriel threw up his hands and Dean nodded.  Sam watched as the shorter Captain walked over to him.  “What was that about?” he asked.

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re kind of nosy?” Gabriel said off-handedly, sliding into the passenger seat.

Sam started the car and they drove away, heading back to work.  “I told your brother that I’m not sure I want Gordon to come with us,” Gabe said after a while.

“You don’t like him,” Sam stated.

“Do you?” Gabriel raised an eyebrow.  “He’s been insubordinate all morning.  The stunt with the omega waitress just set me over the edge.  He’s going to be a problem—and not a good one like you.”

Sam chose to ignore the Captain’s last statement.  “What did Dean say?”

Gabriel huffed and slid down into the seat a little.  “He said that I didn’t have a choice.  No one else is available right now.  So we either take Gordon and deal with whatever shit he brings down on us—or we go in one man short.  I’m not a fan of either scenario.”

“Me either,” Sam said honestly.

Once they were back on base, Dean caught up with them just as they were entering the training building.  “Hey, Sammy,” he said, clapping his hand on his brother’s shoulder.  “Can I speak to you in my office for a second?”

“Sure, Dean.”

They broke off from Gabriel at the conference room and continued down the hall to Dean’s space.  Once inside, Dean shut the door and faced his brother.  “Are you up for this?”

“What?”

“You’re being weird and I don’t like it,” Dean said.  “I’m not comfortable sending you out there if you aren’t one hundred percent ready.”

“I’m fine,” Sam tried.  “I’m just trying to think about everything that we have to prepare for so that it goes smoothly.”

“You know,” Dean fixed him with a look.  “I’ve snooped Gabe’s file.  And Cas has told me a lot about him.  He’s good—really good.  He’s pulled off this kind of op before with no trouble.  Just follow his lead, and don’t get fucking killed.”

“That’s the plan,” Sam said dryly.

Dean huffed out a breath.  “What’s wrong with you today?” he asked pointedly.  “At lunch, you kept moving your chair away from Gabe like he was going to bite you.  You’re being strange.”

Sam tried to push images out of his mind of last night when Gabriel had bit down on his lip in a harsh kiss.  He didn’t need to be thinking along those lines—not now—not ever.  “Nothing,” he said.  “I’m just tired.  I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“He didn’t keep you up until all hours of the morning, did he?” Dean wondered.  More flashes.  Gabriel piled into his lap, running his hands through Sam’s hair.  Gabriel moaning into his mouth with need.

“No,” Sam said.  “He, um, went to sleep.  My fan is broken in my room, so it was just hard to get comfortable,” he lied.

Dean nodded.  “I can swing by sometime and help you fix it up if you want,” he offered.

“Sure.”

Dean looked as though he wanted to ask something else, but thought better of it and dismissed him.  “Okay, Sammy,” he said.  “If that’s how you want to play it, fine.  Go on, get back to work.”

Sam turned and walked back down the hall.  He paused outside of the conference room for a moment.  He had to get his head into this mission.  He wasn’t about to fuck things up for everyone just because he kept picturing Gabriel doing sinful things to him.  He had to stop.  Nothing was going to happen, so he shouldn’t be entertaining the idea.  Even if they weren’t both alphas, with all the stigma that came with those types of relationships, Gabriel was still his superior for the time being.  That was a whole other can of worms that would probably spell the end of their military careers.  He gathered himself up and pushed open the door.  “Glad you could join us, kiddo,” Gabe smiled.  “We have a lot to go over before we’re done tonight.  Take a seat.”

Sam did his best to pay attention for the rest of the afternoon.  He refused to admit that most of what was said drifted right out of his brain as soon as it was uttered.  He was too busy remembering how Gabriel had looked in his arms the night before.  He was so screwed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little Dean/Cas interaction for you...  
> Gabriel is kind of a cocky little thing...

Dean slammed the door to his place later that evening.  He called out to his mate, scenting the air.  Cas was almost near his heat again, and Dean had to remember to request a leave for that time when he got to work in the morning.  The sweet scent of his omega, mingled with the smell of baking pork, wafted from the oven.  It was intoxicating.  Cas walked out of the kitchen and greeted him with a kiss.  “Dinner is almost ready,” the omega said.

“Great.”  Dean kicked off his boots and pulled his husband down onto the couch, kissing him soundly.  “Hey,” he said finally, pulling away.  “Did you notice anything off about Sam last night?”

“No,” Cas ducked his head and wouldn’t meet Dean’s eyes.

“What?”

“I didn’t notice anything about Sam,” Cas said slowly.  “But Gabriel wasn’t acting normal.  It bothered me.  I still don’t know why he insisted on staying with your brother.”

“Yeah, that was weird,” Dean agreed.  He kept thinking back on the day, picking up on the odd interactions between Sam and his brother-in-law.  “Maybe he just didn’t want to be woken up all night by a crying baby?”

“Perhaps,” Cas didn’t sound convinced.

“Why?  What are you thinking?”

Castiel didn’t answer for a while.  He busied himself playing with the buttons on Dean’s uniform.  “Gabriel has a pretty clear pattern when he’s trying to seduce someone,” Cas said finally.  “I was just picking up on those cues last night.  It was strange.”

“Wait?  Seriously?  You think he’s making a play for Sam?” Dean gripped Cas’ arm and forced his mate to meet his eyes.

Cas nodded solemnly.  “I noticed it because I’ve seen him do this for years,” he worried his lip.  “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“I know your brother’s a horn dog.  You’ve told me enough about him, and he isn’t exactly subtle when he visits,” Dean said.  “But he’d never do anything with another alpha, would he?  That shit can get you in a lot of trouble.”  Cas shifted on his feet and looked everywhere but at Dean’s face.  “What?  Really?”

“Gabriel has never been a fan of convention,” Castiel said finally.  “If he desires someone, he make a play for them.  Regardless of their secondary gender.  I know of at least one incident with another alpha when we were teenagers.  Lucifer almost disowned him after that.”

“Shit,” Dean raked his hand down his face.  “So if I’m picking up weird vibes between him and Sammy, then I have every right to be concerned, don’t I?”

Cas shrugged.  “I doubt it.”

“You didn’t see them.”

“Gabriel isn’t stupid,” Cas explained.  “He loves his job.  He loves the military.  He would never put himself in a position like that with a subordinate, _especially_ one that was another alpha.  I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“Somehow I’m not comforted,” Dean grumbled.

Cas placed his hands on his husband’s cheeks, rubbing them with his thumbs.  “Don’t work yourself up about this.  Even if I’m wrong about my brother, we both know that Sam will keep a clear head.”

“At least we have that going for us,” Dean said, pressing a kiss to Cas’ mouth.  “It’s been a long day,” he commented.  “Care to take me to bed and make me have a more enjoyable evening?”

“It would be my pleasure.”

* * *

Sam wasn’t used to sharing his space with another person.  Which was why it wasn’t too surprising that he barged into the bathroom to get ready for bed without thinking that someone might be in there.  When the door to the small room opened, Gabriel didn’t even have time to do anything other than turn around and stand there, staring at the tall man who’d walked in on him.  Sam seemed so preoccupied that it took a second for him to even notice that Gabe was there wearing nothing but bright red boxers, his uniform shirt hanging open to reveal a bare chest.

“Shit!” Sam shouted.  “What are you doing?”

“I was about to shower,” Gabriel motioned toward the running water in the bathtub.

“You showered this morning?” Sam scrunched up his nose.

“Yeah, I’m aware,” Gabriel was gritting his teeth.  He didn’t usually bathe so often, but it was the only place he was going to have any privacy to take care of his incessant ‘Sam Problem.’  He was really hoping that Sam wasn’t going to notice anything going on below his waist.

“Um,” Sam blinked and his eyes slid down Gabe’s body, taking in all of the smooth planes of muscles that were on display.  Despite the fact that he basically ate his own weight in candy, Gabriel knew he looked good.

Gabriel could see the slight tent in Sam’s flannel pajama pants and he sucked in a breath.  This was going to be so much more difficult than he’d thought.  He should have stayed with his brother and Dean while he was here.  Having Sam so close was just making everything worse.  “Um, I…” Sam trailed off.

In a split second, Gabriel made up his mind.  This line was going to be crossed.  There was no way around it.  “The hell with it,” he said huskily, throwing himself across the small room into Sam’s arms.

The force of his movement pushed Sam backwards into the half-closed door.  They banged into it powerfully, bumping it enough to slam closed.  Gabriel placed his hands on the wood, bracing himself in front of Sam who had grabbed for him as soon as he moved.  Lips clashed and teeth raked as they forced their mouths together harshly.  Sam was pulling at his shirt, trying to work it off of his shoulders, while gripping it tightly at the same time.  It was an exercise in futility.

Sam groaned into his mouth and managed to claw his shirt half off of his body.  Gabriel pressed his tongue in between Sam’s lips and they both moaned loudly.  The shock of the sound seemed to bring Sam around and suddenly Gabriel was being pushed away.  Sam blinked at him for a moment before shouting, “Sorry!” and bolting from the room.  Great.  Two for two—Sam had ran from him.  He should just let this one go and move on, but Gabriel knew that was going to be much more difficult than he thought.

The bathroom door was partway open and Gabe reached out and shut it with one finger, his face marred by a frown.  He shouldn’t have done that.  It never should have happened.  Sam was right—there was way too much at stake, not the least of which, was their careers.  Gabriel shook his head and went to the shower, turning the dial to cool.  He knew that if tonight was anything like last night, he wasn’t going to be sleeping very well.  Sam stayed shut up in his room for the rest of the evening.

* * *

When Sam woke up after a fitful night’s sleep, he tiptoed to the bathroom and even knocked before walking inside.  He got ready as quickly and quietly as possible and finally got up the nerve to head into the living room.  The blanket Gabriel had been using was folded and placed on one end of the couch, but the man in question wasn’t anywhere to be seen.  Sam called out for him, knowing it was fruitless.  He could literally see into every room of his apartment and the other alpha wasn’t there.

Suddenly not in the mood for breakfast, Sam pulled on his shoes, picked up his bag and left.  Gabriel wasn’t outside either, but Sam found himself looking for the shorter man.  He pulled his Charger out of the lot and drove the few miles to the base.  He considered asking the beta guards if they’d seen a short alpha that morning, but thought better of it.  As he was making his way up to the training building, he saw someone running the base’s loop toward him.  He recognized the stride and the sun glinting off of golden hair.  He stopped on the step and watched Gabriel run toward him.

The Captain was dressed in workout gear and while he’d worked up a sweat, he wasn’t breathing hard.  “Morning,” Gabe said to him as he stopped, shielding the sun from his eyes.

“Where were you?” Sam tried not to sound bitchy.

“I figured you didn’t want to see me, so I cleared out,” Gabriel shrugged, as though he wasn’t affected at all by their encounter the previous evening.  “I just jogged in.  No biggie.”

“It’s six miles,” Sam pointed out.  “And that circuit you just finished is another ten.”

“I needed to clear my head,” Gabriel’s voice took on an edge.

“You didn’t bring water,” Sam said after a beat.

“And you care?  Why?” Gabe raised an eyebrow.  “Look, kiddo,” he said, putting his hands on his hips.  “I’ve been an officer longer than you’ve been alive.”  Sam snorted at the exaggeration.  “I know my limits.”

“You eat your weight in sugar, don’t hydrate, and then you go running for sixteen miles just to avoid me?” Sam said.  “I’ll be shocked if you don’t pass out at some point today.”

“I’ll make sure I have a defibrillator on hand for that shock you’re about to go into then,” Gabriel sassed.

Sam rolled his eyes.  He was about to really lay into the cocky Captain when Benny sauntered up behind them.  “Hey brother,” he greeted Sam.  “Captain,” he turned to Gabriel.  “What’s the plan for today?”

“Target practice,” Gabriel said abruptly.  “It turns out that I have some _rage_ to work out this morning.  And I want to make sure you can all shoot more accurately than a Stormtrooper.”

“Let me guess,” Benny laughed, ignoring the look on Gabriel’s face.  “Some pretty little omega shot you down?”

“I don’t get shot down,” Gabriel’s teeth were clenched and he slid a look at Sam, who flushed.

“Okay, boss,” Benny chuckled, apparently not noticing the tension.  “Nothing like a little target shooting to ease the mind.  I get that.”

The three of them made their way inside of the training building.  Gabriel took a quick shower before joining the others in the conference room where they had been joined by Victor and Gordon.  He laid out the plan for the morning and they set off to the range on the other side of the base.

They each opted to use their assigned weapons that they would have on the mission in order to preserve accuracy.  Each alpha grabbed a line and a target.  Sam found himself next to Gabriel and he noticed that as the Captain inspected his firearm that he was moving in jerks, his mouth set.  Sam knew he was going to have to find a way to apologize, because this avoidance and ongoing snarky commentary was not what he wanted.  But he wasn’t sure why he should be the one saying ‘sorry,’ since this was a terrible idea in the first place.  If he was smart, he’d just let it go and pretend that things were fine.  But he hated the feeling that he’d made Gabriel angry, or worse, hurt.

He sighed heavily and sighted his weapon.  He could hear the rest of the team firing away.  Sam aimed and went for a head-shot on the paper target.  Bullseye.  Gabriel was still fiddling around with his gun in the next lane, ignoring everyone.  Sam found himself glancing over, waiting to see when the Captain would take a shot.  After he’d hit his mark a few times, Sam’s eyes slid over and he saw Gabriel watching him.  The alpha Captain shot him a smirk and lifted his gun, aiming it down the range at the target.  He wasn’t in a proper stance, or even looking at his mark. 

Gabe pulled the trigger and fired off the entire clip, his eyes never leaving Sam’s face.  When he reached over for the button that would slide the target toward them, Sam shook his head, knowing that there was no way Gabriel had even hit anything.  His mouth dropped open in shock when the target floated up.  Each round had pierced the torso of the paper silhouette.  And to add insult to injury, Gabriel had shot in a pattern that made the bullet holes look like a martini glass.  “Check it out,” Gabriel sounded happy for the first time that day.  “I even got the olive in there.”  He pointed to a single hole in the center of the triangle that made up the ‘glass.’  “I swear, sometimes I amaze even myself.”

“You’re insane,” Sam told him.

Gabe held up his finger.  “I’m eccentric.  There’s a difference.”  Sam turned away, but he could see Gabriel drop his head in frustration.  “Come on, kiddo.”  Gabe stepped over into Sam’s range, which made the Lieutenant lower his pistol.  “I’m sorry I took off this morning, and I’m sorry about…last night,” he had the decency to lower his voice.  “Can we, I don’t know, start over or something?  Because we have to work together for now, and if we can’t trust each other, then this is going to blow up in our faces.  You know I’m right.”

Sam leaned down to him and dropped his voice to a whisper.  “I’m not mad about last night.”  Gabriel smiled up at him.  “I’m concerned.  There’s a difference.  And I do trust you, Gabe.”

“So what was with the health lecture and the bitch-face this morning?”

Sam sighed and glanced down the rows.  The other three members of Unit Six were preoccupied.  “I didn’t like waking up and finding out that you were gone.”

“I’ll leave a note next time.”

“No,” Sam said.  “That’s not what I—forget it.”  He raised his gun, sighting, attempting to ignore the infuriating man next to him.  “I’m not going to talk about this here.  Go away.”

“Sure,” Gabriel said easily.  “But we _will_ be talking about this tonight.”  He turned away without a word and headed down the row to see how Victor was faring with his target.  Once the Captain and Victor were involved in a discussion about the Sergeant’s prowess, Sam finally allowed his shoulders to relax.  He aimed and fired.  His mind was blank and he wasn’t sure why he was so upset, but he took out his frustrations on the target.  Every shot hit dead center.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The shooting a martini into a target thing is taken directly from an episode of 'Burn Notice' where Bruce Campbell's character Sam Axe does the same thing. I thought that it was hilarious. If you haven't watched that show, then I highly recommend it. It's fun, witty, fast-paced, full of pretty people, wildly entertaining and of course, it has Bruce Campbell...


	5. Chapter 5

Castiel texted after lunch and said that Ellen was willing to watch Michael for them tonight.  The two Novak brothers made plans to meet up at a bar called Purgatory around eight to spend some time together.  Cas insisted on bringing his mate, which meant Sam would be tagging along too.  Gabriel was secretly ecstatic about that, but he whined to his brother that it would be more fun with just the two of them.  Cas shot him down, saying that he and Dean were a matched pair now, and that the Winchesters rarely did anything apart, so it would be a party of four whether Gabriel liked it or not.

After the shooting range that morning, the re-imagined Unit Six spent the afternoon going over their cover identifications.  The man suspected of running the entire operation that they were being sent to dismantle was known as Richard Roman, Esquire.  He frequented and patronized quite a few clubs—of both the bar and stripper variety—on the islands.  Gabriel laughed when he realized that despite what Major Singer had said about expensing strip clubs, they would most likely be hanging out in them for the majority of their mission.  He loved it when a plan came together so fortuitously.  Only Benny and Gordon seemed to share his enthusiasm about omega strippers, with Sam shooting him a withering look.

Once they were all feeling comfortable with their aliases for the foreseeable future, they broke for the day.  Benny and Victor headed over to the base gym, while Gordon took off silently.  When they were alone, Gabriel looked over at Sam.  “I take it that Dean had invited you out tonight?”

“He texted me earlier,” Sam informed him.  “I don’t have to go, if that’s what you want.”

“I find that I want you there more than I should,” Gabe said softly.

“I know what you mean,” Sam huffed.  Gabe’s head snapped up and his eyes met the alpha Lieutenant’s gaze.  “Don’t get me wrong—this is still not a good idea.”

“It’s a horrible idea!” Gabriel agreed.  “Doesn’t mean it has to stop us.”

Sam worried his lip as he thought.  The silence in the room was palpable.  He looked around the room, confirming that they were still alone before speaking.  “I want you,” he stated.  “But I’m not going to throw my life away for a quick fuck.”

Gabriel frowned.  “That’s not what this would be.”

“Oh really?” Sam stared him down.  “You’re going to try and convince me that after this is all over, you wouldn’t head back East to your regular assignment and forget I even existed?  Because that’s a little hard to believe.  Especially since we could never really be together—as a couple.”

“I wouldn’t forget you.”

“But you _would_ leave.”

Gabriel had absolutely nothing to say to that.  The kid was right.  It wasn’t like they could ever have something real, as tempting as that sounded.  Any inkling that something was going on between them would find them in the midst of a court-martial and it wouldn’t be pretty.  “Anyone ever tell you that you’re no fun when you use logic?” Gabriel finally said, trying to hide the hurt he was feeling.

“I’m just being practical.”

“Fine,” Gabe spat.  “Nothing’s going on—nothing will _ever_ go on.  Just…come to dinner with us and then we can go back to your place and avoid each other in private, okay?”

“Sure.”  Sam stood up and walked out of the room.  As he reached the door, he turned back.  “Do you need a ride over to Purgatory?”

“That would be helpful seeing as I don’t really want to run there,” Gabriel said sarcastically.

Sam nodded and Gabriel got up, following him out to the car.  They were just going to have to keep their hands—and lips—to themselves.  Forever.  Easy enough.

* * *

For being the middle of the week, Purgatory was doing a steady business.  The lot was almost full when they arrived.  Sam found an open spot near the back, right next to his brother’s car.  The two alphas got out and moved toward the front of Sam’s Charger.  They hesitated in front of the hood, watching each other.

The tension had been growing since they left the base and it was only getting worse as each second passed.  Sam was about to speak when Gabriel beat him to it.  “Remember to try and keep your hands off of me, kiddo.”  Gabe turned and walked into the bar without a backward glance, leaving Sam standing in the parking lot trying to think of a decent retort.  He settled on kicking his front tire and swearing under his breath before following the Captain inside.

Cas and Dean were already there, seated at a round four-top table in the corner.  Gabriel went straight for them.  After hugging his brother, he sat down, leaving a seat nestled against the wall for Sam.  Sam groaned and had to slide in between two other tables and a few people to even get to the damn chair.  Of course, the little guy took the easily accessible seat.  Typical alpha dickishness.  Obviously Gabe was pissed off, and Sam knew that he would probably stay that way until they were alone again.

Cas gave his brother a look, but didn’t comment after the sharp shake of Gabriel’s head.  For his part, Dean kept on shooting odd glances at Sam as he tried to start a dialogue among the four of them.  After a few stops and starts in the conversation, they eventually fell into a discussion about baby Michael.  The topic of the pup carried them through ordering some food, before a loud shout made them all turn around.

A slight omega woman slid up next to Castiel and greeted him warmly.  Sam recognized her as a nurse from the base.  He thought her name was Meg, but he wasn’t sure.  She and Cas talked for a little while before Castiel introduced her to his brother.  “Nice to meet you Captain,” she said.  “I’m Meg Masters.”  Gabriel actually had the nerve to grin at her and flip her a wink.  Sam’s stomach rolled.

Meg didn’t waste any time after they exchanged names.  Sam saw her blatantly scent the air before snagging an empty chair and pulling it right up to their table in between the Novak siblings.  She leaned in, placing a delicate hand on Gabriel’s forearm.  “I’ve always loved a man in alpha whites,” she purred.

Sam felt his face contort into a frown as Gabe preened at the praise.  The fact that he physically tilted his body away from Sam was just adding insult to injury.  “Don’t hit on my brother Meg,” Cas said, laughing.  “I wouldn’t be able to handle you as a sister-in-law.”

“Not all fun has to end with a _knot_ , so to speak,” Meg’s eyes didn’t leave Gabriel as she spoke.  “Besides, if he’s anything like _you_ he has a bit of a wild streak, I’m I right?”

“That depends, Miss Masters,” Gabriel replied smoothly.  “I’m always _up_ for a good time.”

The only thought in Sam’s head was that he wanted this to stop.  He could feel himself clenching his fists under the table and he knew that he couldn’t watch anymore.  “I have to go to the bathroom,” Sam practically shouted. 

Four faces turned to look at him as he tried to pry himself out of the corner seat.  He felt his thigh brush against Gabe’s shoulder as he moved past him in the confined space.  He heard Dean call his name, but he didn’t stop.  Sam was ashamed to admit that he bolted toward the sanctuary of the men’s room as quickly as his long legs could manage.

He pushed open the restroom’s door, thankful that the room was empty, and locked himself into a stall.  Sinking down onto the slightly stained seat, he placed his head in his hands and braced himself on his knees, willing the dizziness to go away.  This was so beyond the worst case scenario.  He had no right to care about who or what Gabriel Novak was doing.  It wasn’t his place.  They certainly weren’t _mates._  

Sam had heard of it happening before—two people with the same secondary genders managing to mate despite biology.  It was incredibly rare, and usually touted in the media as an aberration.  That wasn’t the case here.  This was just raging hormones and an indecipherable crush that he should have kept locked away where it belonged.  The only way that this could end was bad.

He allowed himself five deep breaths before he forced himself up and out of the stall to the sinks.  The water ran cool over his fingers and he bent over, splashing some onto his flushed face.  The creak of the door signaled that someone else had entered the bathroom.

“You know that’s just my natural reaction to attention, right?” a voice came from behind him.  Sam looked up into the mirror and could see Gabriel leaning against the wall in the reflection.  “It doesn’t mean anything.”

“I don’t care what you do with willing omegas,” Sam lied.  “I had to go to the bathroom.”

“Sure, kiddo.”

“Don’t call me that,” Sam heard himself snap.  “I’m what, two years younger than you?”

“Try eight,” Gabriel responded.  “I know—hard to believe with these boyish good looks.  I read your personnel file.  To be accurate, I’ll actually be _nine_ years older than you in a few weeks.  So yeah, you’re a kid.”

“What did you do?  Memorize my file?”

“Maybe.”

They both froze at the admission.  Gabriel looked embarrassed and Sam shocked.  “That’s disturbing.”

“I told you,” Gabriel smiled.  “I’m eccentric.”

“I’m figuring that out, thanks,” Sam did his best at sarcasm, but it fell flat.  He shifted on his feet.  Something had changed in the room, but Sam couldn’t quite figure out what.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Gabriel said softly.  “I just figured that if you were going to shoot me down, that it might be nice to feel remotely attractive.  A pretty omega blatantly hitting on you can do a lot for the ego.”

“I wasn’t shooting you down,” Sam said slowly.

“And yet—you kind of did,” Gabriel sounded upset, despite the fact that he was masking his features.

Sam couldn’t stop his feet.  He was moving toward Gabriel unconsciously.  Before he could stop himself, he’d grabbed the shorter man’s face and pulled him up into a rough kiss.  Gabe froze against him as Sam claimed his lips.  He pressed his tongue to Gabriel’s mouth, even as the other man remained stiff in his arms.  Sam begged wordlessly, trying to convey his pure need.  As if he’d been shot full of electricity, Gabe began to kiss back fiercely. 

He registered that Gabriel was clawing at his shoulders, his leg lifted up, pressing to Sam’s side.  For his part, Sam was gripping Gabriel’s hips, pulling them flush together.  The smell of alpha arousal was thick in the small space, cloying to them.  Just as they were beginning to find a compatible rhythm, Gabriel pulled back and ducked underneath Sam’s arms, twisting out of his grip.  He was gone in an instant, the door swinging shut behind him and all Sam could do was wonder what had happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jealous Sam!!  
> And at this point, they are BOTH pissing me off...


	6. Chapter 6

Gabriel was already back in his seat, talking to Dean when Sam finally came back.  He noticed that Sam pointedly looked at the place where Meg had been and gave a small smile when the tall alpha realized that the omega had left.  The kid needed to work on his subtlety.  Gabriel spent the next few minutes trying to keep up a train of thought while talking to Dean, so as not to arouse any suspicion of his own.  He could tell that Cas wasn’t fooled by his casual actions though.  His brother was too damn observant for his own good.

Thankfully, their food arrived quickly, and they all busied themselves with eating.  It didn’t escape his notice that Sam was basically just moving pieces of lettuce around in the large bowl of salad that he’d ordered.  Dean picked up on it too, which didn’t bode well.  Gabriel just hoped that the other Captain stayed out of it.  He didn’t need to deal with over-protective big brother drama on top of everything else.

When their plates were clear, Dean insisted on picking up the bill for all of them.  Gabe tried to convince the other Captain to let him pay, but Dean wasn’t having any of it.  Sam and Cas just sat there, watching the two of them tug on the bill’s folder for a while with blank expressions.  Finally, Cas stepped in.  “Gabriel,” he said to his brother.  “Dean is just going to pout and be unbearable if you insist on paying.  For the sake of my sanity, please just drop it.”

“Only for you, Cassie,” Gabriel said, letting Dean take the bill reluctantly.

Their waiter wasn’t anywhere to be seen, so Dean announced that he was going to head up to the bar to settle up.  “Why don’t you join me, Gabe?” he suggested, his voice a mockery of civility.  Gabriel knew that he didn’t want to follow the other alpha anywhere right now, but he found himself standing up and trailing across the room after Dean.

The sidled up to the bar and Dean handed their bill and his cash off to the man working the counter.  He turned to Gabriel and stared him down.  “What the hell do you think you’re doing with my brother?”

Gabriel was too tired and frustrated to pretend innocence.  “Not much,” he stated.

“Well, make sure it’s ‘Not Anything,’ got it?” Dean said gruffly.  “Sam’s sitting over there, looking like someone kicked his puppy, and I’ve got a feeling that it’s your fault.”

“Hey!  It takes two to tango, bucko!” Gabriel felt himself get riled.

“No,” Dean pointed a finger at him.  “No tangoing.  No anything.  Just, back off and don’t do anything that you’ll both regret.  I’m not above kicking your little ass, brother-in-law or not.”

“I’m not afraid of you, Winchester,” Gabriel rose to the challenge.  “Sam’s a big boy, he can make his own decisions.”

“I don’t trust him to make the right ones,” Dean growled.  “Not with you.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” Dean said stiffly.  “That I’ve watched my brother do his best to avoid you every time you two have been in the same room.  It would be funny, if it wasn’t so sad.  In Sammy-speak, it means he has a crush.  And that would be bad for everyone involved.  If you make a play for my brother, he’ll go for it, and not consider the consequences.  So I’m placing the blame for anything that happens on you.”

“That seems incredibly unfair.”

“Deal with it.”  Dean was harsh.  “I’m sure you and Lucifer spent enough time blaming me for all the shit that went down with Cas last year.  You know how it works—you’re a big brother too.”

“I’m not making any promises,” Gabriel said finally.  “But Sam and I both agree that it would be a mistake.  So don’t get your panties in a bunch.”

“I’ll feel better when this is all over and you’re back on the East Coast,” Dean grumbled.

“You and me both.”

* * *

“Sam,” Cas looked at the alpha softly.  “You seem troubled.”

The other Lieutenant looked up at his brother-in-law and gnawed on his lip.  “I’m fine, Cas.”  He was watching Dean and Gabriel at the bar.  Both men looked as though they were bordering on exchanging blows for a moment, and it worried Sam.

“You’re a terrible liar,” Cas commented.  “Is Gabriel giving you trouble?  We can insist that he come back with us tonight, if that will help?”

“No,” Sam sighed.  “It’s fine.  We’re— _he’s_ fine.”

He saw Cas glance over toward their brothers before fixing Sam with another look.  “Don’t let him talk you into anything that you’ll regret.”

“What?” Sam looked up in surprise.  Were they really that obvious?  He thought that they’d been hiding all of the simmering bullshit pretty well.  “No, it’s not like that.”

“I know my brother,” Cas said simply.  “He desires you.  Which means that he’ll do anything to have you—no matter what kind of hot water it lands you both in.  I don’t wish to see my brother, or you, court martialed.  You have to keep your distance from him.”

“He doesn’t _desire_ me, jeez, Cas,” Sam felt his face flush.  “You can’t just say things like that, you know.  Someone could hear you.”

“I wasn’t aware that you were going for discretion,” Cas said dryly.  “After all, even Meg picked up on your distress earlier when you went to hide in the men’s room.”

“Shit,” Sam looked at Cas with wide eyes.  “She did?”

“Yes.  We all did.”

“I just really had to pee,” Sam tried.

“No,” Cas shook his head.  “You really had to get away from my brother inviting an omega to spend the night with him using colorful language.”  Sam dropped his head into his hands.  He wasn’t sure what to even say.  “Sam,” Cas placed a hand on his shoulder.  “You know that alphas can’t be involved when they’re in the service.  This isn’t a path that you want to go down.”

“I know,” Sam still hadn’t lifted his head from the table.  “There’s just… _something_ there,” he finally looked up into Cas’ eyes.  “I don’t know what it is.  This pull that I can’t seem to let go of.”

“My brother can be charming,” Cas admitted.  “But he also doesn’t care about the aftermath.  He’s blinded by his libido.”

Sam didn’t think that was correct.  Gabe was a flirt, sure—but he wasn’t the type to shoot himself in the foot for no reason.  Sam had this feeling in his soul that Gabriel wouldn’t leave him hanging.  If this went down wrong, Sam had a feeling that they would face whatever happened together.  It was probably a wishful thought, but he had it all the same.  “Look,” Sam started.  “You have nothing to worry about.  I know what’s at stake here and I’m not going to do something dumb for a quick, meaningless lay.”

“Despite my brother’s past speaking for itself,” Cas said slowly.  “I doubt that he would consider it ‘meaningless’ with you, Sam.”

“Just let me think that, please,” Sam met his eyes.  “If I thought that there was something real here, then I’m not going to be able to help myself.”

“As you wish.”  When Dean and Gabriel finally rejoined them, they were talking about more innocent things.  Cas was keeping a close watch on Sam, while Dean kept eyeing Gabriel as if he wanted to smack the other alpha.  It was a tense end to the evening.

* * *

Despite Castiel offering more than once for Gabe to come home with them, he and Dean piled into the Impala alone at the end of the night.  Sam and Gabriel watched them drive away before the got into Sam’s car to make the short drive to the apartment.  They didn’t speak as they wound through the dark streets.  It was tense and uncomfortable, and neither one would admit that they didn’t like the feeling.

Once they were locked inside of Sam’s place, they stood awkwardly by the doorway, shuffling their feet.  “I—“ They both said at the same time.  Gabriel gestured at Sam to continue.  “I was going to say that I’m sorry I kissed you at the bar.”

Gabriel rolled his tongue around in his mouth.  “I was about to say that I was sorry for running off like that.  I’ve had the experience of it from you the last two days and it isn’t pleasant.”

“No, it’s not,” Sam agreed.  “I shouldn’t have done it.”

“What?  Run off?  Or kissed me?”

“Both.  Either.”

“I don’t regret the kiss,” Gabriel said after a beat.  “I don’t regret any of them.”

“Neither do I,” Sam admitted.

For once, they took their time, slowly moving toward each other.  Gabriel rested his hand on Sam’s hip and looked up at him.  Sam was running his fingers down the buttons of Gabe’s uniform shirt.  They both leaned in as one, culminating in a chaste kiss.  Despite the minimal contact, they were both breathing heavily when they pulled away.  “This is so wrong,” Sam murmured.

“I’m finding that I care less and less each time I touch you,” Gabriel admitted.

“Me too.”

Gabe looked up at him in surprise.  “We really can’t go there, kiddo.”

“I know,” Sam bent down and kissed him again.  They got lost in the moment, gripping the other’s clothing, wordlessly asking for more.

Before either of them could realize what they were doing, they’d managed to move down the hallway without breaking contact, and were standing in the door of Sam’s room.  Sam ran his fingers down the side of Gabriel’s cheek.  “It doesn’t have to mean anything,” he said quietly.

“Kiddo,” Gabe breathed at the touch.  “I’m sorry to break it to you—but it would.  For me, at least.”

He felt Sam’s body still under his touch.  “I know.”  Sam’s face was angled away from him and Gabe found himself gripping tightly to the other alpha’s arm.  “I’ve been attracted to you since I first saw you in the hospital after Cas’ injury.  Anything we did—it would mean something to me.  And that is what makes this even worse.”

“Lust at first sight?” Gabe smirked at him.

Sam hesitated, as though he wanted to say something else.  Gabriel’s stomach turned when he realized what he was hoping that Sam would say.  There was no place in their lives for the idea of _love_ between two alphas.  Instead of speaking, Sam pulled Gabe up toward him and kissed him soundly.  The Captain responded in kind, running his hands through Sam’s almost-too-long-for-regulations hair.  “We can’t do this,” Sam said into his mouth.

“I know.”  Gabriel kissed back.  “We have to stop.  Now.”  They didn’t.

Falling onto Sam’s bed, Gabriel crawled over the taller alpha, positioning himself over the other man’s hips.  They ground together, both men extremely aroused.  Sam gasped under him, writhing his hips deliciously.  “As long as we don’t… _do_ anything besides this—“

“It should be fine,” Gabe finished.

“Exactly,” Sam fiddled with the buttons on Gabriel’s uniform.  “This is just innocent.”

“Completely.”

They met in a frantic kiss, both men trying to pull off one another’s clothing with little success.  Once their shirts were open, Gabe ran his hand down Sam’s stomach, causing the taller alpha to buck into his touch.  “I’m going to stop now,” Gabriel announced.

“Yeah, me too,” Sam kissed him again.  “Just give me a minute.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Gabriel’s hand wandered down, lightly stroking Sam through his white uniform pants. 

The taller alpha let out a filthy moan at the contact.  “Shit.”  His stomach muscles contorted as he tried to reign in his desire.  Gabriel immediately rolled off of him, falling onto the bed, their legs tangled together.  Their bare chests rose quickly with labored breathing and Sam slapped his palms over his face.  “This is really bad.”

“No argument here, kiddo.”

Sam shifted, rolling onto his side to face the shorter man.  He ran his fingers down Gabriel’s arm, causing the Captain to shiver.  “After all of that, it would probably be a terrible idea for you to stay in here with me tonight, wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Gabe managed.  “That would definitely not be something that should happen.  Ever.”  Even as he said it, he sat up and kicked off his shoes.  They both inched up the bed, finally laying back down onto the fluffy pillows, facing one another.  “I’ll just stay for a minute,” Gabriel let his eyes slide shut.

“Sure,” Sam wrapped his arm around Gabe’s waist and pulled them together.  “You can leave anytime.”

“I’m going to,” Gabe huffed, melting into the touch.

Unconsciously, they wrapped their limbs around one another, sliding their bodies together.  Gabe was curled into Sam’s chest, listening to the other alpha’s heartbeat steady out, as they drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms.  He pushed all thoughts of rationality out of his mind as he fell asleep in Sam’s arms.  This was a problem for the morning.  For now, he was just going to indulge himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, Protective Big Bro Dean!  
> And finally a little mutual attraction action for you all...They are starting to sort of behave...for the moment...don't get too comfortable though. Slightly rough seas ahead...


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is super NSFW.  
> WARNING: There is barebacking in this chapter. There is also accidental knotting that was not discussed beforehand between the parties involved. If you don't want to read that, then skip the third scene (after the third line break). It is a sort of important thing for the next little while though...

Sam woke up to sun shining across his face, still wearing pieces of his uniform.  Someone was wrapped tightly around him and he blinked for a moment, clearing his head.  He looked down where Gabriel was pressed against him, fast asleep.  He actually looked even smaller when he was relaxed, and Sam found himself winding his arms around the other alpha and scenting him.  If he could never actually have this man, at least he could have this morning.

He pressed a kiss to the top of Gabriel’s head as the Captain began to stir.  Gabe blinked sleepily up at him.  “I could get used to this,” he murmured, causing Sam’s heart to fill.  “You smell even better right now.”

Alphas were usually turned off by another alpha’s scent—the fact that the two of them took pleasure and comfort in one another’s aromas was odd, to say the least.  But Sam knew what he liked, and this alpha had it.  Gabriel smelled like a cup of strong coffee and chocolate bars, not surprisingly.  Sam could get lost in the scent.  “We have to get up,” Sam said, hating himself for speaking the words and breaking the moment apart.

“Kiddo, I’m already up,” Gabe winked at him.

“Stop that,” Sam was gruff as he pried himself loose from the tangle of limbs holding onto him.

“Fine,” Gabriel let him go, albeit reluctantly.  “You’re no fun.”

Sam scrunched his nose and looked offended.  “I can be fun,” he insisted.

“Oh yeah,” Gabe yawned.  “You want to shower with me?”

The heat filled Sam’s face as he thought about all the things they could do together under a spray of hot water.  He very much wanted to shower with Gabriel Novak.  He wanted that more than he could recall wanting anything in his life.  “Okay,” he said slowly.  “But that’s it.  Once we leave this apartment, nothing can happen again.”

“I know,” Gabe agreed, sounding more than a little upset.  “We can at least have a little fun before this is all over.”

“I mean it,” Sam leaned down and kissed Gabe’s mouth softly.

“Hey, I’ve got a lot more riding on this than you do,” Gabriel responded, running his hand through Sam’s hair.  “I’m the one who could get popped for ‘harassment of a subordinate.’”

Sam was well aware of that.  If they were found out, Sam would face disciplinary actions for sure, but Gabe would most certainly be dishonorably discharged, and everything he’d worked for would be gone in an instant.  Not to mention, his high-ranking oldest brother, Lucifer would probably skin him alive.  Sam didn’t like the oldest Novak all that much, there was something off about him—something lifeless in his eyes.

“Just a shower,” Sam said. “And then this is finished.  We’ll get it out of our systems.  It’s going to be fine.”

“Keep telling yourself that, kiddo,” Gabriel rolled up and onto the floor in one smooth movement.

Sam watched him leave the room and sat on the bed, thinking.  If this was the only chance he was going to have for any intimacy with the other man, then what was he doing sitting here?  He leapt up and followed.

Gabriel was in the bathroom, stripped down to black boxer briefs and testing the temperature of the running water.  He looked up as Sam came in and shut the door.  “You sure about this?” the Captain asked.

“I’m not thinking clearly right now,” Sam admitted, his eyes trailing down Gabe’s exposed body.  “But yeah, I’m sure.”

Gabe’s face broke into a huge smile and he hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his underwear.  He shot Sam a wink before bending down and pulling them off, tossing them over his shoulder in a ball.  Sam wasn’t ashamed to admit that his eyes lingered—everywhere.  Alphas were biologically more well-endowed than male omegas, and it was clear that when the creator was handing out attributes, that Gabriel Novak had been one of the extremely lucky ones.  Sam was pretty sure that the Captain was even bigger than him, which was impressive.

Sam gulped and stepped forward, his eyes glued to Gabriel’s assets.  The other alpha was watching him with a smirk.  “What’s going on in that head of yours, Sam?” Gabriel smiled as Sam’s arms circled his waist.

“I’m thinking about how much I’d like to feel that inside of me,” Sam choked out.  It had definitely been what was running through his mind, but he hadn’t meant to actually say it out loud. 

Gabriel barked out a laugh.  “Interesting,” the shorter alpha said, lightly scenting at Sam’s neck.  “Unfortunately, we don’t have the time for that this morning.”  Sam knew he was right.  “And since we’ve agreed to put an expiration date on whatever this is, I doubt that it will happen.  But good to know.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“I can be.”  Gabriel lifted himself up on his toes and kissed along Sam’s jaw.  “Come on,” he said softly.  “Show me what you got, kiddo.”

Sam stepped away just enough to make quick work of the few clothes that he’d slept in, tossing them onto the bathroom floor, uncaringly.  “This is so much better than my imagination,” Gabriel commented as he tugged Sam’s hand, yanking him into the shower.

“You’re telling me,” Sam agreed.

They stepped under the steaming water, and wound their arms around one another.  Sam ground himself down onto Gabriel and pulled the shorter alpha in for a kiss.  Eventually, Gabe wriggled out of his arms and slid around him, forcing Sam under the spray.  “I was about to drown,” Gabriel told him, situating himself against Sam’s body, further away from the water.

“So now I’m your umbrella?” Sam laughed.

“Basically.”  Gabe licked along his collarbone, and jolted his hips forward.  “You shouldn’t complain when I know you’re enjoying yourself.”

“I’m shutting up now,” Sam smiled, his fingers roaming down Gabe’s back.

“Good boy,” he could feel Gabriel grinning.  “And for your reward…”  Gabe’s hand slid between them, and gripped both of them firmly together.  The grip that Sam now had on the other alpha’s hips tightened as he dug his nails into flesh.

“Yes, Gabe,” Sam moaned.

Gabriel’s head fell forward and he rested it against Sam’s broad shoulder as he continued to jerk them both off.  Sam could feel his knees beginning to shake from the friction.  “Shit,” they both gasped.

Sam placed one of his hands over Gabriel’s fist, holding on to him while Gabe pleasured them.  With a cry, Gabe stilled, covering them both with sticky, white cum.  Sam followed moments later, running his hand through Gabriel’s wet hair.  They clung to each other, breathing hard, as they relaxed into the feeling.  “I didn’t mean for it to be that fast,” Sam said after a while.

“No complaints here.”  Gabe moved away, letting go of Sam.  “Damn.”

They stayed pressed together until the water began to get cool.  When they finally started to use the shower for what it was originally intended, things were somewhat stilted and awkward between them.  They dried off and went to change separately, getting ready to go about their day.  When Sam grabbed his keys and they were standing by the front door, Gabe leaned up and kissed him soundly one last time.  “If that’s all I’m getting from you, then it was worth any risk,” he said softly. 

Sam could only nod.  He had hoped that their little excursion in the shower would help dull his overwhelming attraction to the other alpha, but all it had done was make things so much worse.  When Gabriel pulled away and opened the door, Sam shook his head and vowed that he was going to follow the Captain’s lead.  They could do this.  They could act as though nothing had changed, even though everything actually had become so different.

* * *

 

The members of Unit Six started their day off with a ten mile run around the base’s circuit.  Gabriel joined them, hanging at the back of the pack and trying not to stare at the way Sam filled out his workout clothes.  When they were all showered and changed, they met to go over a few more details about their cover, which took them up until lunch.  They ate at the base mess hall, which was unusual for all of them, but for the most part, they were just eager to get back to work.

That afternoon, they suited up in tactical gear and met out near the active training area.  It was a six square mile part of the base that had been set up to look like a section of a city.  A few of the other training officers volunteered to play the enemy for them and they ran through a few scenarios, clearing buildings as a team with other alphas randomly ambushing them.  With the exception of Gordon, who was terrible at following orders, Unit Six worked seamlessly together.  Gabriel played to the strengths of each member with his orders, and they emerged successful from their mock mission.

As they packed up and left, Gabriel turned to Gordon and snapped, “If you’re not going to do what you’re told, I’ll speak with Captain Winchester about leaving you behind.”

“You told me to go around to the left—there wasn’t anyone there, I could tell.  It was a stupid order,” Gordon scoffed.

“That doesn’t mean you don’t follow it,” Gabriel was seething.

“You have to work with us, Gordon—not against us,” Sam piped up, his own voice tinged with frustration.  “You can’t just do whatever you want.  We’re a team.”

“I’m not trusting the lives of my men to a bitter alpha who can’t follow a simple command,” Gabe said.  “Either listen to what I say, or you’ll find yourself out on your ass.  I really don’t care if we go into this an alpha short if you’re just going to fuck it all up.”

“I’ll work on it, sir,” Gordon said harshly.  They could all tell that he was lying.

“You do that,” Gabe snapped.  “We’re heading out in two days.  Get your shit together.”

Gordon walked away without a word.  The rest of Unit Six walked back to the training building together in mostly silence.  Gabriel sidled up to Sam, shaking his head.  “I don’t like this,” he said quietly.

“I know,” Sam agreed.  “I don’t either.  Gordon’s always been a loose cannon.  I feel like it’s just getting worse each day.”  He looked down at Gabe.  “Do you want me to see if Dean will talk to him?”

“No,” Gabriel’s response was clipped.  “He has to listen to _me._  If he doesn’t want to do that, things could get ugly.  I can’t have your brother fighting my battles for me and expect that bastard to give me any respect.”

Sam nodded in agreement.  Next to him, Gabriel sighed and raked his hand through his hair.  He just had a very bad feeling about Private Gordon Walker.  They were walking into the training building when Sam stopped and grinned down at him.  “What?” Gabe narrowed his eyes.  The kid was trying to hide his laughter but it wasn’t working.

“You are covered in dirt,” Sam pointed at Gabriel’s face. 

The Captain rubbed his cheek with his fingers and they came back stained with mud.  “That would be from when Walker didn’t follow my orders and I almost fell,” Gabe huffed.  “Asshole.”

“You look kind of cute when you’re all messy,” Sam chuckled lowly.

“Sam,” Gabe admonished, shooting a look at Benny and Victor who were a few feet ahead of them.

“I know,” Sam said.  “Sorry.  It won’t happen again.”

“See that it doesn’t,” Gabriel whispered to him.  “Or I’ll have to pull rank and punish you tonight.”

Sam’s eyes went wide.  “I thought that—“

“Kiddo,” Gabe smiled.  “You really think I’m going to be able to keep my hands to myself when we’re alone for the next two days?”

“Apparently that was wishful thinking,” Sam said, his eyes crinkling in a smile.  “Fine then, _Captain_ , you’re on!”

* * *

The driver’s seat of Sam’s Charger was pushed back as far as it would go.  Somehow, Gabriel had managed to wedge himself into Sam’s lap, between him and the steering column.  Their uniforms were unbuttoned and wrinkled from their activities.  The Charger’s windows were completely steamed up, giving them a modicum of privacy as they kissed passionately in the front seat.  Sam’s fingers were raking along Gabriel’s lower back, while the Captain’s hands were running through Sam’s hair.  They pressed into one another, giving open mouthed kisses that seemed to have no intention of slowing down.

Gabriel shifted slightly and his leg bumped the shifter, moving the stick into the neutral position.  Due to the fact that they were parked on a slight incline, the car rolled backward a little bit.  Sam immediately pushed Gabe away and remedied the situation.  They were both wide-eyed and startled out of their passion.  Gabe laughed loudly.  “Okay, maybe this isn’t the best idea,” he said.

“Agreed.”  The shorter alpha crawled off of Sam and plunked back down into the passenger seat with a huff.  “We can go upstairs.  I _do_ have a bed there.  And there’s less chance of someone catching us,” Sam suggested.

“I’m all for that.”

They hurried to Sam’s place, locking the door behind them before falling into one another’s arms once more.  Gabriel hooked his hands around Sam’s neck and practically jumped into the taller alpha’s arms, wrapping his legs around Sam’s waist.  They continued to kiss as Sam carried him down the hall toward the bedroom.  “I thought this would be weird,” Gabe commented.  “But I kind of like it.”

Sam just grunted as he tossed Gabe down onto his bed and crawled over the smaller man, settling on top of him.  Their teeth clashed as they pulled each other into another round of intense kisses.  Gabriel let Sam take the lead for almost a full minute before his alpha tendencies took over.  He hooked his legs around Sam and forcibly flipped their bodies so that he was on top.  He grinned down at the surprised look on the younger man’s face.  “You’re a lot stronger than you look,” Sam commented between kisses.

“Don’t you fucking forget it, kiddo,” Gabriel said, trailing his lips along Sam’s neck.

“Most people don’t man-handle me,” Sam observed, tilting his head back and fluttering his eyelids.

“Why?” Gabriel chuckled before sucking a deep bruise onto Sam’s skin.  “Because you’re a monstrous human being, with a body like this, and who happens to be an alpha on top of it all?  Get used to it,” Gabe grinned as Sam moaned.  “You don’t intimidate me.”

Neither of them mentioned the implication that this was going to be continuing, somehow, some way.  They knew it was only words.  There was no way that they could keep sneaking around like this without consequences.  But they didn’t care.  In that moment, neither of them cared about anything more than the feel of one another.

They ground their hips together, rubbing erections and pulling sharp gasps from their throats.  The friction was amazing and Gabriel wanted so much more.  He wanted to fulfill every single one of his fantasies…and maybe a few of Sam’s as well, if there was time.  “Just this once,” Sam groaned, knowing that deep down, he was lying.  If he could, he’d take everything from Gabe.

“If I only get one time, then you’re _mine_ all night, kiddo,” Gabriel nipped at Sam’s lower lip.

He ran his fingers down Sam’s sides and gripped the taller alpha’s hip possessively.  Gabriel growled deep in his throat as Sam sighed at his words and pulled him in for another bruising kiss.  Their minds on the same page, they both reached up and began working at the buttons on the other’s uniform.  Sam was much quicker, pulling Gabe’s starchy, white shirt off of his shoulders before Gabe was even half done with Sam’s buttons.  “We’ve got all night,” Gabriel laughed as Sam’s hands ran over his chest.

“I’m not what you would call ‘patient,’” Sam admitted with a grin.

“Yeah, me either,” Gabriel agreed, pulling at Sam’s shirt, causing buttons to go flying throughout the room.

“Hey!” Sam yelled at him.

“Shut up,” Gabriel told the younger man.  “And kiss me.”

Sam narrowed his eyes over his ruined uniform, but he lifted his head and kissed Gabriel soundly.  They fumbled with their tight undershirts and then belts.  It wasn’t very long before they were both naked and falling back onto the bed once more, their skin sliding against each other.  Gabriel maintained his position on top, nestled between Sam’s open legs, grinding his hips down into Sam’s body.

He reveled in the sounds he was drawing from the Lieutenant and licked his lips as he gripped Sam’s erect dick in his palm.  The kid was a decent size, which was normal for an alpha, but Gabriel was still impressed.  He gave Sam a little squeeze causing the taller man to buck his hips upward.  Gabe bent his head and latched his mouth around one of Sam’s nipples, slowly stroking the other man’s cock.

“Gabe!” Sam shouted.  “Yes!”

He gave a light bite with his teeth to Sam’s nipple before nuzzling his face against the other man’s chest, breathing in the scent.  The room was thick with alpha pheromones and full blown arousal.  The neighbors could probably smell them at the rate they were going.  Gabriel pushed the thought away because he couldn’t bring himself to give a fuck.

Sliding lower down Sam’s body, Gabriel lavished kisses and nips along the other man’s tanned skin as he worked his way toward Sam’s cock.  He gave a particularly hard suck right at the top of Sam’s inner thigh, getting a low moan in return.  Gabriel breathed in the scent of Sam’s arousal and almost passed out from sheer pleasure.  “Jeez, kiddo, you smell so fucking good,” he complimented.

“So do you,” Sam breathed.  “I could scent you all day.”

“Some other time,” Gabriel promised lightly before running his tongue over Sam’s slit.  The younger alpha bucked, pressing the head of his cock between Gabriel’s lips.  Wasting no time, Gabe dipped his head and swallowed Sam down as far as he could.  He felt the tip of Sam’s dick brush the back of his throat and gave a hard suck, making the Lieutenant scream.

Sam was arching on the bed, his head back and his eyes closed.  He fisted his fingers in Gabriel’s silky hair and pulled sharply.  It actually felt incredibly good, and was more of a turn-on than Gabe expected.  He sucked Sam in deeper, running his tongue around the shaft, teasing the younger man until he hit the brink.  He wanted Sam to see stars, but he wasn’t going to work him to completion.  Gabriel wanted Sam to come for the first time tonight while he was buried deep inside the young Lieutenant.  And Gabriel Novak always got what he wanted.

By the time Gabriel pulled off of him, Sam was a mess, writhing on the bed and actually begging.  He pulled himself up, covering Sam’s longer body with his own, kissing the younger alpha firmly.  “Where’s your lube?” Gabe asked in a husky voice.

Sam weakly nodded his head toward the bedside table and then fell back against the now rumpled sheets.  It was only a moment before Gabriel had the tube of imitation slick in his hands, popping the lid off. 

He was about to coat his fingers to open Sam when the younger man shifted and moaned, causing Gabe to look up at his face.  “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Sam shifted his hips, wordlessly asking for more touch.  “I just,” he trailed off and turned his face away from the Captain.

Well, that wouldn’t do.  Gabriel kind of wanted to see those beautiful eyes when he fucked the other alpha.  He wanted to watch Sam’s eyes go wide as he pounded deep into him and filled that tight ass.  Gabriel wanted to see Sam’s lips part as the younger man moaned in ecstasy.  He wanted to make sure that every noise, feeling and expression was burned into his mind—because this was all they were going to get.

“What’s wrong, kiddo?”  Sam didn’t answer.  “Come on, you can tell me.”

“I want,” Sam bit his lip and faced him again.

Gabe smiled.  “I’ll give you _anything_ you want,” he promised.

“Gabe,” Sam begged.  “I want you to take me bare.”

Gabriel’s eyes went wide in surprise, even as a slow, saucy smile spread across his lips.  “I just had my physical,” he told the other man.  “And I’m clean.  So if you’re sure?”

“I’m clean too,” Sam nodded.  “I haven’t been with anyone since my last required check.”

“Which was when?” Gabe couldn’t help it, he was nosy.

“Ten months ago,” Sam ducked his head a little and blushed lightly.  “I just really haven’t had the time and—“

Gabe shook his head.  “Shut up,” he said firmly.  “It’s _your_ business and you have no reason to be embarrassed about your choices.  I actually kind of like it,” Gabriel winked at him.  “Means you’ll be extra tight for me.”

Sam rolled his eyes at the crude remark.  “About that,” he said.  “I’m an alpha too.”

“I’m aware of that,” Gabriel said.  “I usually notice when fucking someone will get me in deep trouble.  You’re worth it.”

“I mean,” Sam looked at him intensely.  “I’ve never…you know, been…fucked.”  Gabriel raised an eyebrow and pulled away just slightly.  Sam reached up and grabbed the Captain by his bicep—hard—keeping the older man from moving further away.  “That can’t be too surprising to you,” Sam said, watching Gabriel’s face.  “I mean, it’s not like it’s common for an alpha to…yeah.”

“I guess I’m kinkier than I thought,” Gabriel said, trying to brush it off with a laugh.

“So you’ve…?  Wow,” Sam said.  “That actually makes me feel a little better about this.”

“A couple times,” Gabriel said slowly.  “Why does it make you feel better?”

Sam shrugged, running his fingers down Gabriel’s arm, no longer gripping him tight.  “If you know how it feels you’ll be less likely to hurt me.”

Gabriel’s eyes softened and he leaned down, giving Sam a soft, sweet kiss.  “I would _never_ hurt you, kiddo.  Never.  That’s a promise.”

They were silent for a few moments, simply gazing into each other’s eyes, breathing.  “So you’ll do it?” Sam asked finally.

“You want me to fuck you bareback for your first time?” Gabriel seemed slightly hesitant and he didn’t know why.  He had never really cared about his partner’s pleasure or pain before.  He was all about hedonism and just taking what he wanted.  But with Sam he wanted to _give_.  Especially since he knew this was a huge step for the kid.  “That’s a pretty…intimate thing,” he said, trying to convey his thoughts to Sam.

“I know,” Sam smiled up at him.  “I want all my firsts to be with you.”  Gabriel blinked, unsure of what to say to that.  “I know this isn’t real,” Sam continued at Gabe’s silence.  “I know this is a terrible idea and a mistake and we’re probably going to regret this…but if all I get with you is tonight—then its going to be really fucking good.”

Snapping out of his slight shock, Gabriel tried to lighten the mood by winking at Sam and saying, “It was going to be good anyway, kiddo.  You’re with me.  But this,” he smiled.  “This is just going to make it so much better.”  He patted Sam’s hip firmly, but not enough to hurt.  “Get up,” he said.  “It will be easier this way for your first time bottoming.”

Sam groaned and muttered about not wanting to move, but he still rolled over and got up onto his knees facing the shorter alpha.  Gabriel smiled at him and gave him a quick, sloppy kiss.  “Hands and knees, kiddo.  Put that gorgeous ass in the air for me.”

Finally moving with some speed and enthusiasm, Sam turned around and presented like omegas usually did.  Gabriel took a second to enjoy the view, running his hands along the globes of Sam’s firm ass.  Suddenly he stopped and fixed the back of Sam’s head with a look.  “You sure that you’re okay with this?”

He knew that it went against just about every alpha instinct to position themselves this way.  He didn’t want to make Sam feel uncomfortable or demeaned or used or anything like that.  In Gabriel’s experience, sometimes alphas thought that experimenting would be fun, only to discover that they were supremely uncomfortable not being the one in charge.  Sam turned his head and smiled at Gabriel over his shoulder.  “I’m absolutely okay with this,” he said reassuringly.  “I want you.  I want _this._ ”  Gabriel was still watching him and Sam rolled his eyes and sighed, giving his hips a slight wiggle.  “Take me… _alpha_ ,” he teased.

Gabriel actually gulped and heat shot straight through him, making his dick jolt sharply.  Well, wasn’t _that_ fucking sexy?  “You’re going to kill me, kiddo,” he said, the familiar smirk returning to his features. 

Deciding that he was just going to go for it, Gabriel ran a finger down between Sam’s cheeks, pressing lightly at his tight hole.  If Sam wanted him to stop, he would—but they both wanted this and Gabriel actually felt as though it was more than want.  It was pure need.  He squirted some artificial slick onto his fingers and pressed one against Sam lightly.  The younger alpha bucked into the touch, wanting.

Swallowing and taking a deep breath, Gabriel slid his finger deep into Sam as slowly as he could.  Sam was still watching him over his shoulder and Gabriel smiled when he saw Sam’s eyes go wide before fluttering shut at the intrusion.  “Too much?”

“No,” Sam breathed.  “Not enough.”

“Don’t rush me,” Gabriel chastised him playfully.  “If I fuck this up, then its going to hurt and you’ll be cursing me in the morning when you limp through our ten-mile run.”

“Yeah, that would be bad,” Sam agreed, even as he clenched around Gabe’s finger.  “Take your time.”

He played with Sam, slipping the single digit in and out, getting the younger alpha used to the sensation.  After a few slow, gentle thrusts, he pushed in deeper, curling his finger just slightly.  He knew when he brushed the right spot because Sam gasped and his whole body shuddered.  He pressed into Sam’s prostate once more, making the younger man moan deeply.  While Sam was distracted by the pleasure, Gabriel pushed a second finger in as gently as he could.  He made sure to rub over Sam’s sweet spot every so often as he began to scissor his fingers, gradually forcing the taller alpha open.

Gabriel was rock hard, and his cock was dripping now.  His mind was screaming at him to just plunge deeply into his young lover, but he knew that he had to be careful.  He bit his lip enough to draw a little blood and continued to work on Sam’s ass.  Soon enough, the Lieutenant was bucking back onto his hand, wordlessly begging for more.  By now, Sam was leaning into the bed, his forehead resting on his arms, his eyes shut tight as he moved his hips.  He was groaning with pleasure, squeezing his inner muscles around Gabriel’s fingers and almost completely blissed out.  Gabriel was pretty sure that Sam didn’t even notice when he added a third finger and spread.

After a few minutes, he was satisfied that his lover would be loose enough to accept him without too much discomfort and he slowly pulled his hand away.  Sam gasped, “No,” turning the word into four syllables and Gabriel couldn’t help but chuckle at the needy sound.

“Don’t you worry,” Gabriel smiled.  “I’m not done with you yet.”  He managed to keep one hand on the small of Sam’s back while he deftly covered his cock with the fake slick.  When he was satisfied, Gabriel lined himself up.  He gently pulled Sam’s ass cheeks apart and pushed himself to Sam’s needy hole.

Sam was mumbling incoherently.  Everyone once in a while, Gabe would catch a word like, “Please,” or “Hurry.”  It made him grin that the kid wanted him this much.  It was as though all of his secret fantasies had come to life.  Gabriel was having a little trouble remembering that this was _real_ and actually happening.  He was finally going to have Sam Winchester.  Before he could remind himself that this was a horrible idea and that he should really just get dressed and find a hotel, he pushed in.  Too late now.

He slid into Sam with practiced ease, trying to go as slow as possible to allow the kid to adjust to his girth.  He had barely pressed in before Sam’s breath hitched and he made a small yelp.  He should have pulled out, but he didn’t.  Gabriel stilled and looked down at Sam with concern.  “Sam?”

“Please don’t stop,” the younger alpha said softly.  “I’m fine.  It’s just…a lot.”

“I can stop,” he tried again.

Sam huffed and pushed backwards, pulling Gabe’s cock in another inch.  “If you stop, I will stab you in the heart.”

Gabriel tilted his head and considered the threat.  “Fair enough,” he said finally before moving once more.

He kept his pace slow and even, trying to read how Sam was faring by his reactions.  The Lieutenant was murmuring and breathing heavy, but whenever Gabriel slowed Sam would squeeze his ass around Gabe’s dick.  Gabriel placed his hands on Sam’s hips, holding the younger man steady.  He closed his eyes and pressed in the last few inches, finally bottoming out.

Once he was all the way in, he stilled and both he and Sam let out a breath.  Every alpha instinct inside of him screamed at Gabriel to take Sam, and to make it hard and rough.  Most alpha-omega couples would lose control the first time, usually causing slight injury to the omega.  Gabriel had never had a problem with self-control, but he was being tested right now.  Who knew that his desire to _take_ would finally kick in, not with a pliant omega, but with another strong alpha?

He was overwhelmed with the desire and the pure sensations that were humming through his body.  “Sam,” he whispered.

“Gabriel,” Sam echoed.  “Please,” Sam’s voice cracked slightly.  “Fuck me, Gabe.  Please.  I need you.”

The words sent Gabriel over the edge and despite him wanting to take his time with Sam, he found himself thrusting into the younger man with a little more force than he intended.  Biting his lip once more, Gabriel tried to slow down so that he wouldn’t hurt the kid, what with it being his first experience of this kind.  But each time he tried to hold back, Sam would beg for more and thrust backward toward him.

Gabriel’s hands moved up, placed flat on Sam’s shoulder blades, pushing lightly down on the other alpha.  He slid deeply into Sam’s body and the taller man cried out as his prostate was stimulated.  “Fuck, Gabe, you feel so good,” Sam moaned.

“You do too, kiddo,” Gabriel praised, panting.  “Fuck, you’re so tight!”

“Don’t hold back,” Sam pleaded.  “Fuck me like you want to.”

He didn’t need to be asked twice.  Gabriel slammed forward harshly, causing Sam to shift a little on his knees at the force.  Gabe could see that he was now fisting the blankets tightly, attempting to brace himself while Gabriel picked up the pace.  He had spent so much time wanting Sam and now he had permission to take the kid exactly how he desired—it was pure heaven.  Letting go of his minimal restraint, Gabriel let his alpha instincts take over and he thrust deeply into the younger man.

His strokes were powerful and deep.  Each dominant plunge made Sam cry out, but the younger alpha sounded as though he was enjoying it, so Gabriel didn’t stop.  As Gabriel fucked into his new lover, he found himself wanting to claim Sam in every way that he could.  While it was usually considered strange, it _was_ possible for alphas to leave claim bites on one another.  Everything in him was screaming at Gabriel to mark Sam and show the world that this beautiful man belonged to him.  The pull of the mating instinct was almost too much and it took all of his restraint not to mark his lover. 

Gabe cried out, mostly in frustration and slammed harder into the younger man roughly.  Sam fucked back onto him and yelled out for Gabriel to go harder.  For being a first time bottom, and an alpha, Sam was a natural.  Gabriel’s vision was getting hazy as his orgasm began to build.  He wouldn’t last much longer.  In the back of his mind, he considered Sam’s pleasure as well, but he wasn’t sure how to take care of that when he was so driven with lust.

Before he could work out a solution, Sam’s entire body tensed and he gave a loud, drawn-out cry.  Sam’s inner muscles flexed and squeezed Gabriel so hard that the Captain almost came right then.  He held back for a few moments, fucking Sam roughly into the bed.  Without meaning to, Gabriel could feel his knot rising.  Oh, this was _not_ fucking good.  Not good at all.  Gabriel tried to pull out, but his knot had formed enough that it wasn’t going to happen.  Fuck.  He hadn’t planned on knotting the kid—especially for Sam’s first time, but he couldn’t stop now.  Shit.

“I’m fucking sorry,” he gasped out as he pushed his knot into Sam’s body as far as he could.  Sam just made a contented sound, but was still mostly un-moving.  The younger alpha had gone almost limp and was lying forward, boneless and yielding as Gabriel plowed him deeply.  Only a few more thrusts and Gabriel came hard, deep inside of Sam’s warm tight ass, his knot locked into the younger alpha.

Just as he thought that he’d ridden out the orgasm, Sam clenched again and ripped another round of come from Gabriel’s cock.  “Fuck, kiddo,” Gabriel gasped as he felt his seed spill out once more.

He fell forward, collapsing onto Sam’s back, both of them covered with a thin sheen of sweat.  After a moment, catching his breath, Gabriel pulled his arms around Sam’s waist and maneuvered them down onto the bed, lying on their sides.  Once they were comfortably spooning, Gabriel moved backward, trying to put some distance between them.  He was trying to push down the feeling of absolute terror that was clawing at him.  He had never knotted someone before—he’d sort of been waiting for a mate to take that step.  But here he was, knotting some poor young kid without talking about it first.  Gabriel flushed, mostly with shame mixed in with a little anger directed at himself.  He had no idea what to do now.

Sam pushed his ass back, rubbing the cheeks onto Gabriel.  Sam seemed perfectly happy that he’d just been knotted, which was almost inconceivable to Gabriel.  He’d been with other alphas before—discreetly and before he enlisted—but he’d never allowed himself to be knotted.  And no alpha that he’d topped in the past had allowed it either.  Not that Gabriel had ever been so carried away that it had been an issue before.  Even as he traced his fingers along Sam’s spine soothingly, his other hand came up and rubbed the bridge of his nose.  This was a fucking travesty.

They were breaking all of the rules, and this was supposed to just be a quick thing to get it out of their system.  That was all shot to shit now.  Knotting was a seriously intimate act between any sort of couple and it wasn’t done lightly.  He may as well have just given the kid a claim bite.  He was _so_ going to get court-martialed for this.  And then Dean Winchester would probably castrate him and flay all of his skin off.  Not that he didn’t fully deserve it.  Super dupes.

Gabriel could feel himself beginning to panic and tried to tamp it down.  If he didn’t, then the smell of freaked out alpha was going to become very obvious.  Sam moved a little in front of him, pulling lightly on Gabe’s knot and the Captain shoved part of his fist into his mouth and bit down so that he wouldn’t come again.  “Gabe,” Sam said, his voice full of contentment.  “That was amazing.”

Closing his eyes, Gabriel took his time before saying, “I’m sorry I knotted you, kiddo.”  The familiar endearment slipped out of his lips before he could think.  As soon as he said it, he flinched and mentally berated himself.

“Don’t be,” Sam breathed.  “I kind of...like it.  It feels really good.  So fucking full—of you.  And that’s just…that’s the best.”  Sam seemed to realize that Gabriel wasn’t responding and that he’d stopped rubbing Sam’s back and the younger alpha trailed off.  “Are you okay, Gabe?”

“Peachy,” Gabriel said, trying to hide the frustration in his tone.  It didn’t work very well.

“Wait,” Sam said, his voice slipping from post-orgasm high to worry.  “Are you _mad_ at me?”

“No,” Gabriel said in a clipped tone.  Sam’s body relaxed once more.  “I’m mad at _me_.”  He winced as Sam’s shoulders tightened up again and the kid tried to shift away from him.  “Look,” Gabriel said, trying to sound as though this wasn’t excruciatingly painful for him.  “We both know what this was, right?  We were just blowing off some steam because of all the sexual tension these last few days.”  Sam didn’t speak.  “And we both agreed that this was a huge mistake right from the get-go.  So…yeah.”

Gabriel knew that he sounded like a total dick, but what else could he do?  This relationship was doomed and absolutely forbidden in their line of work.  It was dangerous, and he couldn’t ask Sam to go through the humiliation when this got out.  He was doing the right thing.  It was best to make a clean break and move on with their lives.  Gabriel could just pretend that this had never happened—that Sam Winchester wasn’t the best sex of his life.  He could convince himself that the flutter in his chest when he knotted the other man didn’t mean anything.  He was certain he could pull it off.  And even if he spent the rest of his life regretting this moment, he knew that he was doing the right thing.

Sam remained quiet and was doing his best not to move.  Gabriel wasn’t even sure the younger man was even breathing, he was so still.  They lay like that, in silence, un-touching, except where they were tied together by Gabe’s knot for another half an hour.  When it finally went down enough for Sam to pull himself off, he slid away from Gabriel like lightning.  Gabriel lay on the bed for a second.  He allowed himself one last look at Sam’s naked body before sighing and standing up.

As he gathered his clothes and began pulling them on, he noticed that Sam was just sitting on the edge of the bed, refusing to look at him.  Once Gabriel was completely dressed in his uniform once more, he shifted awkwardly on his feet and stared at Sam’s back.  “I guess I should go,” he said finally.

“I guess you should,” Sam’s voice was cold.

“I’m sorry, kiddo,” Gabriel said remorsefully.  And it was the truth.  He was devastated.  It felt as though his entire being was literally being ripped in two.  When Sam didn’t respond, Gabriel turned and walked toward the bedroom door.

“I know what we both said,” Sam spoke suddenly, his voice low.  “But I guess I was hoping that maybe you’d change your mind.”  He went silent for a beat.  “I did.”

Gabriel didn’t know what to say.  He was shocked right down to his core.  All he wanted in that moment was to go to Sam and throw himself into the tall alpha’s arms and never leave.  Instead, he remained silent and walked out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to scream at Gabriel right now. A lot.
> 
> If you skipped the sex and knotting stuff, a brief recap: They have sex (FINALLY) Top!Gabriel/Bottom!Sam. Gabe loses control and knots Sam on accident, which in this universe is a super serious thing. Sam is actually perfectly fine with it, but it causes Gabriel to freak out. They fight a bit and its sad. Sam sort of confesses his feelings by saying that he knows they agreed this was just a one-time thing, but he had been hoping that Gabriel would change his mind because Sam did. Gabriel doesn't say anything and leaves. Because he's emotionally weird and can't just talk about feelings and all that crap. 
> 
> I'm so sorry.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter...it doesn't totally fix things, but it's a start. Hopefully it takes the sting out of the last chapter just a little. Which is why I'm posting a second time today. I have many feelings of guilt. #SortOfSorry

Sam stayed in his room, listening as Gabriel gathered up all of his things.  He didn’t move until he heard the front door open and close with a slam.  Still naked, he ventured out into the rest of his apartment and before he could reconsider, he locked the front door.  Novak wasn’t getting back into his home tonight—or his heart, ever.

He tried to tell himself that he didn’t give a fuck where Gabriel went as long as it was somewhere else.  He’d probably go to Cas and Dean’s place.  Or he could head over to the base and beg for a room in the Bachelor’s Officer’s Quarters.  Whatever.  It wasn’t Sam’s problem and he didn’t care.

Except that he did.  He went through his nightly routine, getting ready for bed.  It was slightly difficult because his ass felt like it was on fire.  Not only had he been ‘broken in’ for the first time, he’d been knotted, which hurt like hell.  Sam grit his teeth and brushed away a single tear from his face as he climbed into bed.

Knotting was a huge deal.  Only bonded couples knotted for the most part.  It wasn’t something you just _did_ with a random hook-up.  Sam had only ever knotted toys before—never a real live person.  It was a major step in a romantic relationship and he’d never been that close to anyone before.  But when he was with Gabriel and he felt the other alpha’s knot forming he had wanted to scream “Yes” at the top of his lungs.  Nothing had ever felt so right before in his entire existence.

It had been amazing and perfect and everything he’d ever wanted—and then Gabriel basically said it was a mistake.  He’d obviously lost control and hadn’t meant it.  Apparently he didn’t think of Sam as anything other than a good time.  It fucking stung and it kind of made the younger alpha want to go unauthorized absence in the morning.  Sam knew he’d never dare do that, but he wanted to—he _really_ wanted to.  He never wanted to see that cocky, handsome smile ever again.  And he was about to go on a freaking mission with the man.  The man who just fucking knotted his ass.  The man he was pretty sure he had fallen in love with.

Sam raked his palms over his face and closed his eyes.  He lay in the dark for a while before he got up and went to the couch.  He couldn’t face sleeping in his bed—not tonight.  Fuck.  He was so screwed.  Gabriel was right.  This _had_ been a mistake.  The biggest one that Sam had ever made.  And he was pretty sure that he was never going to be able to get over it.  He was going to remember Captain Gabriel Novak for the rest of his life—and it was going to painful.

* * *

Dean was waiting for him in the parking lot in the morning.  Sam knew that he’d have to deal with his brother sooner or later, so he may as well get it over with.  He turned off his car and set his face into the most neutral expression that he could manage.  “Hey Dean,” he said as he climbed out of the driver’s seat.  He tried to hide the wince as a sharp pain shot through him due to the previous evening’s activities.  He didn’t want to have to explain anything to Dean.  That would just result in more problems.

His brother was leaning against his precious Impala, arms crossed over his chest and glaring.  “Do you want to tell me why you didn’t respond to any of the five voicemails that I left for you last night?”

Sam shook his head.  “My battery died,” he lied.

“Bullshit.”

Sam just shrugged.  “Well it did, but whatever.”  He turned on his heel and began to walk into the training building.

“Why did that annoying little bastard show up at my house with his suitcase in the middle of the night and wake me up?” Dean growled, trailing after him.

“I don’t know,” Sam said.

“I thought you were entertaining him?”

Snorting sarcastically, Sam finally turned to face his brother.  “We had a fight and he left.  That’s all.  It’s not a big deal.”

Dean narrowed his eyes.  “Do I need to kill him?”

“What? No!” Sam said.  He didn’t want Dean to figure out what had happened.  If he showed how wounded and furious he really was, then Dean probably _would_ murder Gabriel—or at least punch him in the face.  “It was a misunderstanding.  It’s fine.”

“Do you want me to reassign you so that you don’t have to go to the Caribbean with that little asshole?” Dean was serious and Sam began to panic that maybe Dean knew more about the situation than he was letting on.

“I’m good,” Sam said firmly.  “I am more than capable of doing my job.  I’m going.”

He let his face relax as Dean continued to stare at him.  He knew that his brother was trying to figure out what was going on, but Sam wasn’t about to break.  “Fine.  It’s your decision,” Dean said after a while.  As they turned once more to walk inside, Dean said, “I’m pissed at the little fucker too.”

“Oh yeah?” Sam said flatly.  “Why?”

“Cas made me pancakes this morning,” Dean told him.  “And that tiny dick-bag used all the syrup.  I think he drank it, which is beyond gross.  So my pancakes were boring and plain and only had butter on them.  It was a horrible start to the morning.”

“I’m sorry,” Sam said, rolling his eyes.

“You should be,” Dean smiled at him, joking.  “You should have kept him at your place and fed him so that he wouldn’t raid my fridge.”

“Again,” Sam said, trying to keep his voice light.  “Sorry.”

Dean clapped him on the back and grinned.  “You should be, Sammy.”

* * *

The day was horribly awkward, to say the least.  Sam showed up in the conference room right on time and sat down as far away from Gabriel as he could.  He greeted everyone, but pointedly ignored the Captain.  Only Benny seemed to notice anything off. 

They spent the morning running through their plans again, with Gordon mouthing off every few minutes.  After the fourth snide comment, Gabriel actually snapped at the man.  He went off for over ten minutes, completely losing his cool, screaming at Gordon before finally managing to calm down and sending the other man to see Dean.  It was unprofessional and embarrassing and he _really_ hoped that it didn’t get back to Lucifer.  His older brother would take one look at him and know _exactly_ what was going on.

Even if he wasn’t completely certain, he’d find out.  Lucifer always had a way about him that could convince Gabriel to come clean, even when it was in his best interest to lie.  Luci was a manipulating asshole and he would certainly find a way to the heart of the issue in no time.  Gabriel was also pretty sure that Lucifer would have absolutely _no_ qualms about turning him in to their superiors either.  Because Luci was a great big bag of dicks.  You didn’t become a colonel by being nice.

After Gordon stormed out, Gabriel didn’t really feel like functioning anymore and he dismissed the other members of Unit Six to do some last minute preparation.  They would be leaving in the morning for the Caribbean and he was sure that they all still had things to get in order.  Gabe stood next to his chair, his arms crossed over his chest watching Sam pack up his paperwork.  The younger Winchester was the last to leave the conference room.  Benny and Victor were out in under a minute, but Sam seemed to be taking his time.  Gabriel desperately wanted to make this right.  He wanted to go back in time and fix this, but he honestly didn’t know how.

Despite the tension crackling between them, filling the room with a thick stench of anger, Gabriel took the opportunity to freely watch Sam’s face.  He waited until Sam had gathered his things and began to leave.  When the younger man drew level with him, Gabriel turned and said, “I’m going to stay with Cassie and Dean again tonight.  I figured it would be easier.”

Sam just shrugged, not looking at him, and walked out of the room.  Gabriel watched him leave without a word and blinked stupidly as the door closed.  What the hell?  He shook his head and determinedly stalked off after Sam down the hallway.  “Sam,” he called.  The other alpha didn’t turn.  He tried again with no response.  Finally, his frustration getting the better of him, Gabriel filled his voice with a command and shouted, “Lieutenant Winchester!”

Stopping and turning slowly, Sam glared down at him as he walked over.  “I called you,” Gabriel said, dropping his voice so that they wouldn’t be overheard.  Sam just stared at him, his eyes flashing with rage.  “Look,” Gabriel tried.  “I didn’t mean to—“

“Oh, you meant to,” Sam hissed.

Gabriel actually took a step backward at the words.  The kind, strong, sensitive, loving man he’d fallen so hard for was gone.  There was nothing behind Sam’s eyes.  He looked blank—numb.  Gabe was actually horrified to realize that _he_ was the reason that Sam Winchester looked as though someone had ripped his soul from his body.  “Kiddo,” he tried again in a soft tone.

“No,” Sam was firm.  He pointed a finger at Gabe’s chest and poked him—hard.  “You’re the one who decided that _this_ was all a big mistake,” Sam was whispering, but he simply dripped with barely controlled venom.  “You were the one who left.  You were the one who made me think that I was more than a fucking _hole_ to you.”

“Sam!” Gabriel tried to cut in, his expression full of horror.

“But you made it very clear,” Sam spoke right over him.  “That that’s all that I am to you.  I’m not going to abandon my mission, despite the fact that Dean offered to reassign me.  I’m going to do my job and come home and pretend that you don’t exist.”

Something tight and painful worked its way around Gabe’s heart and he actually gasped aloud.  This was wrong.  This was all wrong.  “So if you want to go stay with Dean and Cas,” Sam growled at him.  “Go right the fuck ahead.  I honestly don’t care what you do.  I don’t care at all.”

He turned and stalked away without another word, leaving Gabriel speechless and alone in the empty hallway.  Fuck.  He’d totally broken the kid.  Gabriel had never felt like more of a dick in his entire life.  Fine.  If Sam wanted to pretend that nothing happened and that Gabe didn’t exist, then that’s what he’d do.  Gabriel knew that he was in love with Sam.  He couldn’t deny that any longer.  But if the younger man wanted to move on, then Gabe would do his best to make it easy.  This was for the best.  Eventually Gabriel would recover from the absolute trauma of heartbreak.  He might heal again in fifty years or so…hopefully.

* * *

Later that night, Sam had just put the finishing touches on his salad when there was a knock at the door.  He groaned and sent up a silent prayer that it wasn’t Gabriel.  When he glanced out of the security port in the door and saw that it was his brother, he unlocked the door and ushered Dean inside.

Sam walked back into the kitchen and carried his healthy dinner to the small table in the breakfast nook and sat down.  Dean trailed after him and grabbed a beer from the fridge.  “Do you want to tell me why Gabriel is locked in my son’s nursery with a bowl of brownie batter and a giant spoon?” Dean began.

Blinking for a moment, Sam finally shook his head and stabbed some lettuce with his fork.  “I don’t know,” he said.  “Why don’t you ask him?”

“He’s not talking,” Dean said.  “Not even to Cas.  What the hell happened?”

“Maybe he’s just nervous about this op,” Sam tried to sound nonchalant.  He even threw in a casual shrug.

Dean took a long drink of his beer and levelled Sam with a look.  “Maybe,” he finally said.  “But according to Cas, that would be ‘incredibly out of character.’  I guess Gabe is just a cocky fucker about _everything_ he does.”  Sam snorted and poked at his salad without looking up.  “Is this a serious problem?” Dean asked after a long silence.  “Sammy, you can tell me.  Are you in trouble?  Did Gabriel do something?”

“Like _what,_ Dean?  What would he have done?” Sam finally said, an edge in his voice.

“I don’t know,” Dean told him.  “But Cas and I have both seen it.”

“Seen what?”

“We’ve seen the way he looks at you,” Dean said quietly.  “And it isn’t how alphas should look at other alphas.”

Sam bit down on the inside of his cheek and forced himself to remain clam.  He managed an eye-roll because if he didn’t, Dean would know he was lying.  “Nothing like that happened,” Sam lied firmly.  “And you should get your eyes checked because Gabe doesn’t look at me in _any_ way.”

He shifted uncomfortably as his older brother stared him down.  Finally, Dean blew out a long breath.  “I know you’re lying to me,” he said.  Sam tried to interrupt, but Dean just held up his hand for silence.  “You’ve always been a horrible liar, Sammy,” Dean looked as though he didn’t want to keep talking, but he did.  “If you’re not telling me what is going on, then that means you’re trying to protect that fucker.”  When Sam didn’t deny it, Dean nodded once.  “Out of respect for your _insane_ notion that ‘nothing’s wrong,’ and the fact that he’s Cas’ brother, I won’t bury him alive in my back yard.”

“Thank you,” Sam said.

“Don’t,” Dean said harshly.  “I don’t know what happened and frankly, I don’t want to know.  But if you two can’t work this out by the time you get back from this mission, then I swear to you, Sammy, I _will_ kill that little shit.”

Sam paused and let the words sink in.  He knew that Dean was being absolutely truthful.  He might not kill Gabriel, but he’d probably do something painful and horrible to the other Captain.  And he’d put his own career at risk—just because Sam couldn’t control his libido.  “Okay,” he said.

“I’m not kidding, Sammy,” Dean pushed his chair back, scraping the legs on the floor as he stood.  “Figure this out and fix it.”

“I didn’t do any—“

“I don’t care,” Dean snapped.  “I can’t get laid because our ‘guest room’ is actually Mikey’s room.  So my son has to sleep in _my_ room.  And Cas thinks its creepy to get it on when the baby is there.  So because you and Gabriel had a ‘misunderstanding’ I have fucking blue balls.”

Sam wasn’t sure how to respond to that so he didn’t.  Dean kept going.  “You leave tomorrow.  I don’t care _whose_ fault this was.  But one of you has to start things off and it may as well be you.  You’re much more reasonable than Gabe and we all know it.  Just…fix this.”

“I will,” Sam promised.  He found himself actually meaning the words.  Even if Dean wasn’t basically threatening him, it wasn’t smart to go into a combat situation with bad blood in the unit.  People could get hurt if he and Gabe couldn’t work out their issues, at least in the short-term.

“That’s all I ask,” Dean smiled at him.  “Now, I have to go.  Apparently I am supposed to stop at the store for gummy bears because Cas says that they ‘make Gabriel happy.’”

Despite the fact that he was still incredibly hurt, confused, and boiling mad, the mental image of Gabe stuffing his mouth with gummy bears was actually kind of adorable.  It was enough to draw a smile from Sam.  Dean winked at him as he left, shutting the apartment door behind him.

After he ate and double checked his packed gear for the next morning, Sam channel-surfed for a while before finally calling it a night.  He hadn’t been able to bear the thought of lying in the bed that he’d shared with Gabe, even for such a short time.  He was glad that he had moved to the sofa late last night.  He may as well do the same thing tonight.  Stretching out on the couch, Sam pulled a small blanket over his chest and flicked off the light.  His feet dangled over the edge and the cushions were lumpy. 

Whenever he closed his eyes, he could picture Gabriel’s handsome face and it was beginning to give him a migraine.  Dean was right, he had to try and fix this before they got to work.  He wasn’t going to risk Benny or Victor—or even douchey Gordon—getting hurt because he and Gabriel were distracted with their own bullshit.  Sam forced himself to shut his eyes and think of anything besides Gabriel and how good the other man made him feel when they’d had sex.  It was a long time before Sam managed to fall asleep that night.  

* * *

There was a sharp, no-nonsense knock on the door to Michael’s nursery.  Gabriel was perched on the edge of the air mattress that had been set up in the corner holding an empty bowl of brownie batter.  He didn’t feel any better after consuming all of that sugar, which was a terrible sign.  Usually sweets cheered him right up.  “Gabriel,” Cas called through the door.  “Open up.  Dean brought you gummy bears.”

Gabriel forced himself to stand up and opened the door a crack, sticking the empty bowl and spoon out toward his brother.  Cas took them and tried to push on the door a little.  Gabriel braced his foot against it so that it wouldn’t open any more.  He held his hand out through the crack and wiggled his fingers.  “Gummy bears, little bro,” he demanded.

“No,” Cas was firm.  “If you want them, you have to come out and spend some time with me and Michael.”

“Cas,” Gabe groaned.  “I just want to be alone right now.”

“And you want to eat your weight in junk food,” Castiel pointed out.  “That’s extremely unhealthy.  You know that.”

“I have a great metabolism,” Gabriel said.  “It’s fine.”

“You’re going to get a disease,” Cas said simply.  He held the bag of gummy bears out so that Gabriel could see them and wrinkled the cellophane bag temptingly.  “You can have one handful if you spend ten minutes with me while I make dinner.”

Gabriel wrinkled his nose and considered the offer.  “Fine,” he snapped finally.  “Ten minutes.”  He opened the door and followed his brother to the kitchen.

The sound of the television drifted in from the living room but Gabriel couldn’t tell what was on.  “Dean is watching his show,” Cas told him.  “So we can have some time together.”

“What’s he watching?  Sports?” Gabriel asked.

“Doctor Sexy, MD,” Cas sighed.  Gabriel goggled at his brother.  When he realized that Casitel was dead serious, Gabriel snickered.  “Some of the storylines are compelling,” Cas told him, although his delivery sounded forced, as though someone had coached him on saying it.

Since he had tendencies to be a terrible person, Gabriel couldn’t resist.  “Cas,” he grinned at his little brother.  “Do you ever dress up as Doctor Sexy for Dean-o?”

“I am not discussing this with you,” Cas told him.  “However, if you wish to discuss sexual relations, you can tell me exactly how long you have been sleeping with Sam.”

Gabe’s mouth dropped open.  “What?” he said a little too late.  “Are you crazy?”  Castiel just stared at him in that super unnerving way that his brother had.  “He’s an alpha.  Alphas don’t make love with other alphas.”

“Oh,” Cas said, dismayed.  “Oh, Gabriel,” he looked at Gabe with pity.

“What?”

“You said ‘make love,’” Cas pointed out.  “You didn’t say ‘sex,’ or ‘fuck,’ or any other number of crude things I know you could come up with.  You care about him, don’t you?”  Gabriel just glared at Castiel and remained silent.  “You’re in love with Sam?”

After a full minute of Cas’ pathetic pitying eyes, Gabriel snapped.  “I’m not,” he insisted.

“You are,” Cas was certain.  “I don’t know why I didn’t see it sooner.  Gabriel,” he said sadly.  “You know the rules.”

“Yeah?” Gabriel kept an edge to his voice.  “You knew the rules too, Cassie.  No sleeping with your commanding officer, right?  Didn’t really seem to stop you from mating Dean.”

“That was—“

“Still against the rules,” Gabriel pointed out harshly.

“You’re right,” Cas said, bowing his head.  “I have no room to judge you.”

“No, you don’t,” Gabe huffed.

The brothers moved around the counter and sat next to each other on the high stools.  Gabriel’s feet didn’t touch the ground, which annoyed him, so he banged his heels against the counter because he knew it would irritate his younger brother.  “How long?” Cas asked after a while.

“How long since we slept together?” Gabriel asked, arching a brow.  “Or how long have I been in love with the kid?”

“Both,” Castiel said gravely.

Gabriel sighed and pushed his hair back with his hand.  “Nothing physical happened until this week.  Technically we didn’t even have sex until last night,” he said softly so that Dean wouldn’t hear them.  “But…I’ve kind of been in love with him since I first saw him.”

“And his secondary gender doesn’t bother you?” Cas asked.  There was no judgement in his voice, and Gabe was grateful for that.  Castiel was much more accepting than most people.  “Him also being an alpha is fine?”

Gabriel gave a short laugh.  “I’ve never really been one for convention, Cassie.  You know that.”

“No, you haven’t,” Cas gave him a small smile.  “Will you leave the service?”

Blinking at his little brother, Gabriel actually considered the question.  He’d never actually thought about that before.  He _could_ retire.  He was due to finish out in a few months anyway.  He’d planned on signing up for another four years, but he didn’t _have_ to.  He had enough years to draw a retirement pension at this point.  He could _choose_ to leave.  And then no one would be able to keep him and Sam apart.

As soon as the idea crossed his mind, he immediately sobered.  Sam hated him now.  There was no point in even entertaining the idea.  “I don’t think it really matters,” he finally told Cas.  “The kid wishes I’d get hit by a bus, most likely.”

“What did you do?” Cas asked him.

“You don’t want to know,” Gabriel said sincerely.  “Trust me.”

“I do,” Castiel told him.  Gabe sighed.  His brother was so earnest.  He knew that Cas would pester him until he broke and admitted what happened.

“Please don’t freak out,” Gabriel said after a beat.  “And I apologize because this is _way_ too much information to know about your brother but,” he blew out a huff of air.  “I accidentally knotted him.”  Cas was staring at him.  “And then I might have implied that sleeping together was a mistake.”

“What?” Cas looked furious.

“And then he said that he had hoped that it could mean something,” Gabriel couldn’t seem to stop himself.

“Gabriel,” Cas was glaring at him.

“And then I left,” Gabriel added, just to twist the knife into the wound.  He really was a douchebag, wasn’t he?

He didn’t even see the fist until it was too late.

* * *

Gabriel and Dean were sitting on the stools at the counter, dripping wet, and holding bags of frozen vegetables to their faces while Cas yelled at them both.  When Dean had stormed into the room and punched Gabriel in the eye, no one had known how to react.  Gabe had stumbled to the floor and Dean had shaken out his hand, not realizing that Novaks were blessed with hard skulls.

Before Cas had been able to diffuse the situation, Gabriel had launched himself at Dean, swinging out with his own punch.  The two of them grappled in the small kitchen, knocking over chairs, and managing to dump a bowl of potatoes that Cas had prepared for dinner all over the floor.  Each of them managed to land a few hits before Cas walked calmly to the sink and turned on the spray hose, blasting them both with icy water.

“What the hell, Cas?” Dean shouted at his mate.

“You’re both acting like animals,” Cas pointed out.  “Then I will treat you like animals.”

The two Captains stood in the middle of the kitchen dripping and staring at the omega who was glaring daggers at them.  Castiel pointed at the stools and in a firm voice said, “Sit.  Now.”

The alphas sat and looked up at the younger man as he began to gather things from the kitchen.  Each of them was given a small hand towel and a bag of peas to put on their wounds—and that was all.  There was no sympathy in Cas’ eyes as he watched Dean place the cold veggies on his bruised knuckles.  And there was nothing but anger for Gabriel as Castiel observed his brother wipe away some blood from a thin cut across his cheek with the towel.  “I’m disappointed in both of you,” Cas said.

He turned and pointed to Michael who was sitting in his high chair, dribbling spit and goggling at them.  “Dean, you should set a better example for our son,” he lectured his mate.  “You didn’t even see him there.  You two could have knocked him over.”  Dean actually ducked his head and mumbled an apology.

“Gabriel,” Cas turned to his brother.  “You’re an ass, and I don’t blame Dean for hitting you.  _I_ want to hit you.”

“Cas, angel?  I know that he’s your brother, but I’ve wanted to do that for a long time,” Dean confessed.  Next to him Gabriel snorted, which made Dean turn and glare at him.  “You’re lucky I didn’t just shoot you,” Dean growled.

“Bite me,” Gabriel snarled.

“You _knotted_ my _alpha_ brother,” Dean snapped.  “No court in the world would convict me.  I know that Sammy would never want that!”

“Oh, he wanted it,” Gabriel shot back, his eyes flashing.

Dean stood up and drew his fist back once more.  “Sit.  Down.” Cas’ voice rang out in the room.  There was no mistaking the seriousness that the omega was conveying.  “Gabriel?  Did you take advantage of Sam?”

“No!” Gabriel shouted.  “He wanted to…he wanted me to…he was good with it!  The sex part, at least.  The knotting thing was an accident.  I didn’t mean to!  And then I told him that and he got upset.  I mean, we all know that it was a shit idea and that it should never have happened,” Gabriel pleaded to his brother.  “I was just trying to make things easier.  Fix it somehow.  I don’t want Sam dragged into anything.”  He turned to Dean and met the other alpha’s eyes.  “I didn’t know what to do so I left and came here.”

“Gabriel,” Cas said solemnly.  “Knotting is serious.”

“I’m aware of that,” Gabe snarked.  “It isn’t like I’ve ever done it before.  I didn’t mean to, it just…happened.”

Dean’s face relaxed at the admission and even though he had been about to say something, he snapped his mouth closed and looked thoughtful.  “Are you trying to tell me that despite your rather ‘active’ sexual reputation, that you’ve never knotted anyone before?” Dean finally asked.

“No,” Gabriel snapped.  “I never let anything get that far before.  I’ve always been able to control myself.”

“But you couldn’t with Sam,” Cas pointed out gently.

“Like I said,” Gabriel said.  “It was an accident.”

“Maybe it wasn’t,” Cas said soflty.

Dean and Gabriel whirled and looked up at him.  “What do you mean?” Dean narrowed his eyes.

“Dean,” Cas looked at his mate.  “Gabriel is in love with Sam.”

“I didn’t say you could tell anyone!” Gabe shouted.

“Shut up,” Dean snapped at the other alpha.  “What do you mean?  They’re both alphas.  They can’t love each other.  Alphas love omegas.”

“Love isn’t something you can force,” Cas told him.  “It’s beyond our control—especially in certain cases.  May I remind you of how _we_ mated?”  Dean had the decency to blush at Cas’ words.

“Yeah, but we’re True Mates,” Dean said.

“Yes,” Cas nodded.  “So are Gabriel and Sam.”  The two alphas stared up at him in open shock.  “You can smell it when they’re in the same room,” Cas went on.  “When True Mates join, their instincts take over and things can go beyond what was intended.”  He fixed Dean with a serious look.  “My brother loves Sam, and when things between them escalated, he couldn’t control himself any longer.”  Cas glanced quickly at Gabriel before turning back to Dean.  “It’s been documented in cases of True Mates.”

“But,” Dean looked confused, but much less angry now.  “They’re both _alphas_.”

“It’s been known to happen,” Gabriel’s voice was glum.  “It’s not common—not at _all_ common—but it happens.”

Cas nodded.  “Our old boarding school principal was an alpha.  His mate was also an alpha.”  Cas looked at Dean.  “He was almost fired from the school district when it was discovered, but they did a blood and bonding test and it proved that despite their secondary genders that they were True Mates.  They’re in the registry now and no one could touch them after that.”

“Cas,” Dean said.  “There’s like, only a hundred couples in the True Mates Registry right now.  It’s super rare.  You know that from when we went through it.”

“Yes,” Cas said.  “And once it was proven that we were made for each other and got Registered properly, then it made things much easier with Lucifer, didn’t it?”  Dean shrugged but eventually he nodded sullenly.  “I believe that it’s the same between our brothers,” Cas said.  “Sam and Gabriel are True Mates, despite the fact that they’re both classified as Alphas.”

“What do you mean, you can smell it when I’m around Sam?” Gabriel asked suddenly, narrowing his eyes at his younger brother.

It was Castiel’s turn to stammer and blush.  “Well,” he said.  “Um, when omegas are…pregnant…they have a keener sense of smell,” Cas finally managed to say.

Gabriel picked up on it first and he grinned broadly at his brother.  “Cassie you sneaky little thing!”

“What?” Dean said in confusion.

“You knocked up my baby bro again,” Gabriel said in a slow, condescending voice.

“Cas?” Dean’s face lit up.  “Seriously?  We’re having another pup?”

Blushing, Cas nodded.  “I found out yesterday.  I was going to wait to tell you until we had some time alone to…celebrate.”

Dean jumped up from his stool, dropping the bag of mostly melted peas onto the floor and moved around the counter, grabbing his mate.  He physically lifted Cas off of the ground and then pulled him into a tight embrace, before kissing Cas soundly.  The happy couple was nuzzling and openly scenting one another for a while before Gabriel cleared his throat.  He had grabbed the bag of gummy bears that Cas had held hostage and was trying to slink out of the room.  “I’m just gonna go,” he said.

“Not back to Mikey’s room, you’re not,” Dean said firmly.

“What?” Gabriel tilted his head.

“My son needs to be in his own room because I’m about to fuck my pregnant mate in our bed,” Dean said.

Gabriel gave an over-dramatic shiver of repulsion, “Ew.”

“So you can either share your room with a crying baby,” Cas joined in.

“Of you can go back to Sammy’s and fucking work this out,” Dean glared at him.

Gabe blinked at them both for a moment.  He looked down at the gummy bears in his hands and gnawed on his lip.  “I’m going to…go to Sam’s place,” he said finally.

“Good choice,” Dean smiled.

“I’m taking these gummy bears with me,” Gabriel lifted his chin defiantly. 

“You do that,” Cas said, trying to stay stoic.

Dean let go of his mate for a moment and rounded the counter, stepping near Gabriel.  Despite wanting to shrink away, Gabriel stood his ground and stared up at the other alpha.  “I don’t regret punching you,” Dean said.  “Because you’re a dick.  But if you’re really Sammy’s True Mate, then you have to make things right.  Don’t go fucking this up.  Because if you break my brother’s heart again, no one will ever find what’s left of you.”

Gabriel narrowed his eyes at the threat.  He knew he deserved the fist to the jaw—he accepted that.  If someone had done what he had to Cassie he would have done a lot worse than a simple hit.  He was a big brother too; he understood where Dean was coming from.  But he wasn’t going to roll over and let another alpha get the last word.  “Trust me, Dean-o,” Gabriel said, his voice strangely serious.  “If I ever hurt your brother again, you won’t have much work to do.  I’ll take care of it myself.”

“Good,” Dean said firmly.  “Now get the fuck out or you’re going to see me pull down your brother’s pants.”

“Goodbye,” Gabriel turned on his heel and practically _ran_ from the room.  His suitcase was zipped and by the door within ten minutes.  He could hear noises coming from the master bedroom and he looked down at his phone to distract himself.  There was a text from Cas saying that he had ordered a car for Gabe.  A few moments later, he heard the driver honking and headed out. 

Sliding into the backseat, Gabe made a request for two stops.  The driver shrugged as though he didn’t care.  He told the driver where he wanted to stop first, and then gave the man Sam’s address leaning back against the cool leather.  He had to fix this.  He was _going_ to fix this.  Cassie was right—Sam was his True Mate.  Gabe had a feeling that he’d known for a while now, and he was a little resentful that his brother hadn’t spoken up until shit had hit the fan.  No matter, thought Gabe.  Everything was going to be all right.  It had to be.  If they really were meant to be, then Sammy was biologically wired to forgive him eventually.  Eventually.  That was okay.  Gabriel was patient.  He could wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU DEAN!! (Because I have to admit that I wanted to smack my precious Gabriel as well for that stunt)


	9. Chapter 9

“What the hell?” Sam shouted into the darkness of his living room.  He’d been sleeping, dreaming about Gabriel, of course.  The other alpha had been naked and teasing him, coaxing Sam to join him in the shower.  Sam had just been about to kiss the other man when he was jolted awake by an incessant pounding on the front door.  He reached over and looked at his phone.  It was just after midnight.  Who the fuck would be bothering him now?

Bleary from sleep and the uncomfortable position he’d been in on the sofa, Sam stumbled to the door and opened it without bothering to check.  When it swung open and he saw who was standing there, he mentally cursed himself for not looking first. 

Gabriel was in the doorway, bouncing on his tip-toes and looking painfully anxious.  Even as Sam registered that the man he’d fallen in love with looked tormented and broken, he was still shutting the door in Gabe’s face.  “Hey!” Gabe snapped at him.

The door stopped closing and Sam looked down at the ground.  Gabriel had shoved his foot in the jamb and looking through the crack with pleading eyes.  “Sam,” the older alpha said, his tone bordering on begging.  “Please, just let me come in.  Ten minutes?”

Sam knew that he was an idiot and that he should just kick Gabriel in the shin and slam the door, but he didn’t.  He found himself opening it slowly and glaring down at the other man.  “Five minutes.”

“Sure,” Gabriel said agreeably.  “That’s fine.”  He stepped inside and Sam noticed that Gabe frowned when Sam pulled away from him.  Once the door was shut and locked again, Gabriel walked into the living room as though he belonged there.  “I have to admit,” he said lightly.  “I _might_ have been kicked out of Cas and Dean’s place though.”

“That explains why your suitcase is with you,” Sam said sarcastically.  “What did you do them?”

“Nothing,” Gabriel said.  “I’m not sure if it’s my place to say.”

“Just tell me,” Sam sighed impatiently.

“Cassie’s pregnant,” Gabriel said.  “Again.  They, um, they wanted to celebrate,” he pursed his lips and gave Sam a meaningful look.  “And I really didn’t want to hear that.”

“Yeah, I don’t blame you,” Sam agreed.  “Wow.  Pregnant.  They’re going to have another pup.”

“Yup,” Gabriel rocked back on his heels.

There was a stretch of awkward silence where neither man was sure what to say.  The tension was swirling around them, alpha scents mingling with one another.  Despite the situation and the way that they had treated each other since the previous night, the tension wasn’t heated with anger—it was purely sexual.

Sam recovered enough to realize that his hurt and the feelings of betrayal were melting away and being replaced by the scent of pure alpha arousal.  He glanced around the room, hoping that Gabriel hadn’t noticed yet, but he deflated when he saw the shorter alpha watching him.  The usual cocky smirk was there, of course, but there was also something flickering behind Gabriel’s golden eyes—hesitation.

“Sorry about the mess,” Sam finally said.

Gabriel glanced down at the couch and saw the pillows and blankets, balled up all over it.  “You were sleeping on the sofa?”

Sam nodded and looked away.  “I really didn’t want to stay in my bed.”

“Fuck,” Gabe breathed.  “I’m so sorry, kiddo.”

“Don’t call me that” Sam said sharply.

“Sorry, Samuel,” Gabriel said, warily.

Sam shook his head in frustration.  “It’s just that,” he said.  “When you say ‘kiddo,’ it’s like a nickname or something.”

“It’s a term of endearment,” Gabriel corrected.

“Right,” Sam said slowly.  “Yeah.  And since we aren’t…yeah, um,” he shook his head.  “I just don’t want you to call me things like that when you don’t…when you don’t,” Sam trailed off and forced himself to not finish his thoughts.

Gabriel looked as though he wanted to bolt, but instead he took a step toward Sam.  When the taller alpha didn’t pull away, he moved closer until they were almost touching.  Gabriel reached out and ran his finger along Sam’s sternum.  Sam sucked in a breath.  He should tell Gabe to stop.  He should walk away.  He should make the other man leave.  But he couldn’t.  He looked down as Gabriel met his eyes through his lashes.  Sam felt his heart stop as he focused on Gabriel rolling his tongue around inside his mouth.  “Kiddo?” Gabe said again, his tone slightly playful.

Sam didn’t want to hope.  He wanted this to be over.  He didn’t want to spend his life clinging to the _idea_ of what he couldn’t have.  “I fucked up,” was what Gabriel was saying.  “I did—badly.  And for that I’m sorry.  But it doesn’t mean that I don’t love you.”

Everything in Sam’s body froze.  His heart literally stopped and he was pretty sure there was no blood flowing anywhere inside of him at all.  The room seemed to close in around them until Sam couldn’t really see anything at all except for Gabe and that cheeky fucking grin.  “Are you messing with me?” Sam finally managed to speak.

“What? No!” Gabe actually looked offended.  “Shit.  I really did a number on you, didn’t I?”  When Sam didn’t answer, Gabriel huffed and then reached up, cupping Sam’s face in his palms.  He pulled gently, guiding Sam down to him, standing up to his full height, which to Sam, was almost laughable.  But when their lips met, Sam melted into the touch.

He couldn’t stop himself.  It was as though he wasn’t in control of his own body.  Everything in him was begging for this—yearning for _this_ man.  He didn’t even resist when Gabriel pushed his tongue into Sam’s mouth.  Instead, he moaned and gripped Gabe’s hips, yanking the other man closer.  Gabriel’s hands were in his hair and Sam was pretty sure that he was leaving bruises on the other man’s skin even through his clothes.

They kissed desperately, and by the time Gabriel forced himself to pull away, Sam was ready to just drop to his knees and beg for more.  The other alpha wasn’t about to let that happen though.  He smiled up at Sam with unusual sweetness and brushing his thumb along Sam’s jaw.  “Come on, kiddo.”  Gabe’s tone was firm, yet still full of tender emotion.

Sam didn’t resist as he was led down the hall and into his bedroom.  The sheets and blankets were still a mess from the previous evening’s activities.  The scent of sex, sweat and cum still lingering in the air and Sam wondered if they should move back to a more neutral place.  As though he could read his mind, Gabe shook his head and pulled Sam to the bed.  They sat down together, their knees brushing lightly. 

He wasn’t sure what Gabriel wanted, but then the other alpha kissed him sweetly for just a moment before gripping Sam’s hand with both of his and looking deep into Sam’s eyes.  “I can’t tell you how fucking sorry I am,” Gabriel said.  His usual joking manner was nowhere to be seen.  “I’ve…never done that before,” Gabriel admitted.  “And I panicked.  Not just because you’re my subordinate, or that you’re another alpha, but mostly because you’re Dean’s little brother and I fucked up.  I didn’t want to ruin your life with the hot mess that is me.”

“You’ve never knotted someone before?” Sam asked, honestly shocked.  He’d heard stories from Castiel about Gabe’s past and he had just assumed.

For his part, Gabriel looked insanely embarrassed and shook his head.  “I was sort of waiting,” he said.  “For my mate.”

“Oh,” Sam’s heart fell.  “I’m sorry I messed that up for you.”

Gabriel was shaking his head, but he was smiling at Sam as though he was the most perfect thing that the older alpha had ever seen.  “Sammy, you didn’t mess it up for me at all,” he said.  “Do you trust me?”

“Not really, honestly,” Sam blurted out.

“Fair enough,” Gabe chuckled.  “Okay.  Will you do something with me?  And if I’m wrong, then I will walk out of here and go to Bachelor’s Officer’s Quarters and stay as far away from you as possible during this mission?  I promise.”

Sam was wary, but he found himself saying, “Okay.”

The grin on Gabriel’s face seemed to light up the entire room.  He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small plastic square with some buttons on the top.  Sam had seen them before, but he’d obviously never used one.  “Where did you get that?”

“The base infirmary,” Gabriel laughed.  “They have a few lying around for testing.  And it helps to have a brother who is a slightly psychotic Colonel to threaten people with.  Plus that Meg girl was on duty and let me take it.” Gabriel grinned.  “What do you say?  Wanna try it out?”

“Are you serious?” Sam was staring at him.

“I have a hunch,” Gabriel told him.  “Plus, Cassie’s pregnancy senses apparently picked up on something.  He thinks that we’re True Mates.”  Sam continued to stare at Gabriel.  “I know, it’s weird, since we’re both alphas but—“

“It happens,” Sam cut him off.  “There are documented cases.”

“Exactly,” Gabriel smiled.  “How’d you know that?”

“I don’t just run around the base all day and spend my free time working out,” Sam said sarcastically.  “I do a lot of reading.”

Gabriel hummed.  “I would have assumed with a body like yours that you spent about fifteen hours a day at the gym.”

“I have good metabolism,” Sam said thinly.

“Hey,” Gabriel grinned.  “Another thing we have in common!  How about that?”

“You’re insane,” Sam said, his voice becoming slightly teasing.

“So I’ve been told,” Gabriel said smugly.  “How about it, kiddo?  Curious?”  Sam had to admit to himself that he was curious.  “It’s just a tiny pin prick and a few minutes for the reading.  We could know for sure.  It’s the only way to really know.”

Sam took a moment to think.  He was still pissed at Gabriel for running out the night before.  And he was hurt and angry, but he was also drawn to Gabe.  He wanted to pull Gabriel into his arms and keep him there for the rest of their lives.  However, with them having the same secondary genders, the only way to avoid repercussions was if they were indeed True Mates.  And this really was the only legal way that they would be accepted.  Even as he found himself nodding and agreeing, Sam knew that this test was simply to cover their asses.  He knew.  And he knew that Gabriel did too.  The results were going to be positive—Sam could feel it.  “Let’s do it together,” Sam said, holding out his hand.

Gabriel took his hand and held up the device.  Just before their fingers brushed the plastic, Gabe stopped and looked up at Sam.  “You know that if this comes out the way I _know_ it will, that means some pretty big changes,” he said seriously.

“I’m aware of that,” Sam told him.

“The military would have to sanction us and give us a pass on the ‘Four Twenty-Nine,’” Gabriel referenced the serial code for the rule in question.

“Yes,” Sam nodded.  “And we still can’t really _do_ anything until its official,” he mentioned.

“Really?” Gabriel wrinkled his nose.

“You know that,” Sam chided him.

“I was sort of hoping you might be a closet rule-breaker,” Gabe teased him.

Sam laughed.  “No such luck,” he responded.  “Someone is going to have to keep your ass in line.”

They both chuckled a bit at that before they fell silent once more.  In all seriousness, Gabriel looked up at Sam and asked, “One last time, are you sure?”

“I’m more sure of this than anything in my life,” Sam said.  “Just do it, Gabe.”  He pushed his hand firmly into Gabriel’s loose grasp and smiled as the smaller alpha squeezed his fingers.

In unison, he and Gabriel placed their index fingers into opposite ends of the plastic container.  They had time to look into each other’s eyes before the sting of the pin prick came.  When they removed their hands, there were tiny droplets of blood on their skin.  Neither of them moved to get band aids.  They just grasped each other’s hands and stared into the other alpha’s eyes as they waited.

Time meant nothing, and Sam felt like he was drowning in Gabriel.  When the tinny alarm rang three minutes later, they both jumped, startled at the sound.  They looked down at the small screen on the top of the device at the same time.  A thin infinity symbol was displayed there, blinking brightly at them.  “Holy shit,” Sam breathed.

Gabe didn’t seem to be able to speak.  He just held the text box up to his face and stared at it while Sam squeezed his hand.  “Do you have any idea how rare this is?” Sam was almost giddy with excitement.  “Not only are we True Mates, but we’re both alphas!  That’s almost one in a billion or something.”

Finally Gabriel seemed to snap out of it and he turned to look up at Sam.  “Is this okay with you?”

“What?  Why wouldn’t it be?” Sam said with confusion.

“Well, this morning you hated me,” Gabriel pointed out.

Sam huffed out a laugh.  “I didn’t _hate_ you,” Sam told him.  “What you did was…fucked up.  And we’re going to talk about it later, so don’t think you’re getting away with anything,” Sam warned him with a soft smile.  “I was hurt and pissed off and lashing out.  But I’ve _always_ loved you.”

The look of apprehension on Gabriel’s face faded away as he smiled up at Sam.  “You love me?”

“Yeah Gabe,” Sam looked at him tenderly.  “I’m in love with you.”

“That’s good,” Gabriel leaned toward him and brushed their lips together.  “Because I fucking love you too.”

They crashed into each other, grasping at whatever they could.  It was as though their inner alphas, their very souls, finally recognized each other.  Their touches were frenzied and almost panicked as each of them tried to feel as much as they could of the other.  Gabriel pressed a hand to Sam’s shoulder, gently pushing him back onto the bed.  Just as he settled over Sam’s body, straddling his hips, Gabriel pulled back.  Sam looked up at him in confusion.  “What are you doing?”

“Not now,” Gabriel said after a long pause.  “Not tonight.”

Even with such a cryptic statement, Sam knew what his lover was getting at and he nodded.  “Okay,” he agreed.

“I want the next time with you to be perfect,” Gabriel said.  “Not that last night wasn’t everything I hoped for,” he amended.  “But the ending was a disappointment.  Two thumbs down.”

Sam rolled his eyes and leaned up for a kiss.  Their lips met in a chaste touch and Sam broke it first, even though he hated how it felt to pull away.  “Let’s just go to sleep then,” he suggested.  “We have a big day tomorrow.  Stay with me tonight?”  Gabriel simply kissed him in response.

Wordlessly, the two alphas stripped down to their underwear and climbed under the disheveled covers.  Sam pulled Gabe to his chest and wrapped his arms around the smaller man.  He smiled as Gabriel nuzzled into him, scenting him on instinct.  He was still hurt and a little upset, but he wasn’t burning with rage any longer.  Not now that he had found his True Mate.  He wasn’t kidding—they would have to hash this out at a later date, for sure.  But for tonight, Sam comforted himself in the smell and feel of his soon-to-be-mate as they drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The alarm went off the next morning before the sun rose and Gabriel wailed angrily and shoved his face back under the pillow.  “No!  Why?” he cried.

Sam just laughed at him as he rolled out of the bed and headed toward the bathroom.  It took Gabe less than ten seconds for the thought to hit him—Sam.  Sam was waking up next to him and laughing at him for hating the morning.  Sam was climbing out of the bed that they had shared wearing only underwear.  Sam was there.  He peeked out from the pillow and found that the taller alpha was back and looking down at him fondly.  “Not really a morning person?” the younger man laughed.

“I’m okay with them,” Gabriel muttered as he tried to sit up.  “But we were up until about two in the morning last night and it is now,” he paused and glanced at his standard issue officer’s watch.  “Six?  That’s horrible.  We aren’t required to report until oh-eleven-hundred.  Come back down here and let me touch you,” he tried to sound tempting.

Snorting at him, Sam shook his head.  “I have a routine in the morning.”

“Oh that’s not going to be a thing,” Gabriel said.  His smile said he was joking, but the tone was absolutely serious.  “Come on, kiddo,” he did his best pout, his pink lips puckered out at Sam.  “Technically this is our first morning.  Don’t you want to spend it rutting against one another until we have to shower and leave?”

Sam narrowed his eyes and pretended to think about it for a half a second.  “You’re right,” he said.  “My jog and the news can wait.”

“You jog?” Gabriel goggled at him as Sam climbed back into bed.  “You wake up at the ass crack of dawn and go jogging so that you can go to work…and jog some more?  What is wrong with you?”

“I like running,” Sam said, pushing Gabriel back into the pillows and settling over him, trapping the smaller alpha between his arms.  “And _you_ like my body, so shut up.”

“Touché,” Gabriel smiled up at him.  “But I can think of a dozen ways to work up a sweat that doesn’t involve you leaving this bed.”

“Nothing that could get us in trouble,” Sam reminded him.

“Kiddo,” Gabriel scoffed.  “Technically just lying here could get us court martialed if someone walked in and saw us.  Live a little.”

Sam shook his head and stayed as firm as he could.  “I will share your bed.  We can cuddle and kiss when we’re alone—but no sex.  Nothing like that until this is officially sanctioned.  I don’t want either of us throwing away our careers when all we have to do is wait until we come back from this op.”

“Blowjobs?” Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows.  Sam shook his head in the negative.  “Frotting?” Gabriel asked.  Another head shake from his lover.  “Dry humping with our clothes on?” Gabriel knew he sounded just a tiny bit desperate.

“No,” Sam told him firmly.

Gabriel looked as though he was going to snap for a moment before his face morphed into a more calm expression.  “Fine,” he said, but there was an edge.  He wasn’t happy about this and he made sure that Sam knew it.  By the look on Sam’s face, he knew—and he didn’t care.  “But you’re going to owe me when this is all said and done.”  He pouted again, unamused at Sam grinning down at him, pinning his hands.  “I didn’t plan on finding my soulmate and then putting on a chastity belt for the forseeable future.”

“This mission isn’t going to take that long,” Sam told him.  “You’ve planned it perfectly.  It will be a few days—tops.  And then we’ll be back here and can get registered as soon as we land and are debriefed.”

He knew that Sam was right, but that didn’t mean that Gabriel had to like it.  So he pouted again.  Sam watched him, his pupils dilating as he gazed at Gabriel’s face.  “That’s cute,” he observed, as Gabe stuck out his lower lip.  “But it isn’t going to change my mind.”

“You suck so much,” Gabriel said, grunting and trying to wiggle out from under the larger alpha.

“You actually haven’t had that pleasure yet,” Sam reminded him cheekily.

Arching an eyebrow, Gabriel regarded his younger lover.  “Care to give me a preview?”

“No,” Sam said, grinning at him.

“You’re a tease,” Gabriel realized.  “Sam Winchester is a fucking tease.  You like this don’t you?  You like getting me all fucking turned on and then denying me.”

“Maybe,” Sam admitted, his tone guilty.  He ground his hips down onto Gabriel’s body and the older alpha gasped at how hard Sam was.  “But don’t forget that I’m suffering too.”

Gabriel nodded and regarded Sam for a moment before pushing up with some extra strength and kissing Sam.  “Okay, kiddo.  I get it.  We can get through this.”

“It’s the best way,” Sam whispered against Gabriel’s ear, giving a small nip to the lobe.

“I know, but it still sucks,” Gabriel whined gruffly.

They rolled around in bed for a few more hours, kissing and caressing, but always keeping their hands above the waist.  Gabriel griped that he felt like he was in middle school again which made Sam choke on air for a full minute.  “What?” Gabriel asked.  “You never did this when you were younger?”

It was almost endearing how the deep blush crept up Sam’s neck and across his face.  “I actually didn’t even have my first kiss until I was eighteen,” Sam admitted, looking horrified and embarrassed.

“Sam,” Gabriel frowned, touching his lover’s cheek.  “How many people have you been with?”

“Three.”

Gabriel did his best to keep his expression neutral.  “Including me?”  Sam nodded, obviously upset.

“I dated a girl in high school.  An omega named Jess,” Sam said.  “She um—she had an accident when we were nineteen.  She died.  I had just joined and was still finishing up my training when it happened.  I wasn’t there.”  Sam blew out a heavy breath.  “Other than her, I had a one-off thing with a beta ten months ago.  Other than that…it’s just been you.”

Realizing that talking of his old love was painful for Sam, Gabriel did what he always did in uncomfortable situations and tried to change the subject—inappropriately.  “Well, fuck,” he said.  “I’m not going to tell you _my_ number then—you’re going to think I’m a man-whore.”

The tears that were gathering at the corners of Sam’s eyes were blinked away as he laughed.  “Well,” he said, placing a kiss at the corner of Gabe’s mouth.  “You’ve only knotted one person.”

“That’s true,” Gabriel smirked up at him.  “I guess that makes you special, kiddo.”

“We’re True Mates,” Sam said dully.  “Of course I’m special to you, you asshole.”

“I love it when you talk dirty,” Gabe teased him.

This time when their lips met, Gabriel made sure he put as much love and emotion behind the act as he possibly could.  If he was this special to Sam, even before they discovered their status as perfect mates, then he was going to do his best to live up to Sam’s desires.  He wasn’t even going to complain about the no sexy-times rules.  Well, not _much,_ at least.

* * *

Eventually they made their way to the shower, which was incredibly enjoyable, before grabbing their bags and rushing out the door.  They arrived on base at the airstrip with moments to spare.  Everyone else, even Gordon, were already assembled and waiting.  It was physically painful for Sam to not touch Gabe, but he knew that he would have to resist.  At least until they were home again and registered properly.  He wasn’t about to do _anything_ to mess this up.

He shielded his eyes from the sun and saw Dean standing with the rest of Unit Six, waiting for them.  He also noticed that Gabriel was keeping a pretty large amount of physical distance between them as they joined the rest of their team.  Even going so far as to move around the group and firmly place himself as far from Sam as possible.  It stung a little, but Sam understood.  He did his best to look completely disinterested as Gabriel laid out their plans for the rest of the day.

Once everyone was caught up, they moved to throw their bags into the hold and take their seats on the transport.  It would be a long flight, and everyone wanted to claim a seat that would at least have _some_ leg room.  Sam moved to join them when he felt a hand on his arm.  He turned to see Dean watching him.  “Got a second?” his brother said.  It wasn’t a question, and Sam knew it.  He moved off to the side and stood close to Dean waiting. 

Lowering his voice, Dean leaned in and fixed Sam with a look.  “I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into,” Dean said.

“Dean,” Sam tried not to groan.  “I’m an adult and I’m perfectly capable of making my own decisions.”  He wasn’t going to pretend that he didn’t know what Dean was getting at.  “How much do you know?”

“Enough,” Dean’s voice was clipped and Sam noticed the glare his brother slid to Gabriel’s back.  “More than I really want to actually.”

Sam felt his face flush in embarrassment.  He really hoped that Dean didn’t know _everything_ , but from his brother’s expression, he probably did.  Well, that was sufficiently awkward.  “Just don’t let him talk you into anything that you’re not comfortable with, okay?” Dean looked back at Sam.  “I’m not kidding.  Just say the word and I’ll report him.”

“If you report him, then you’ll be reporting me too,” Sam reminded him.

“I know,” Dean nodded.  “I just,” he raked his palms over his face.  “I don’t know what to do about this.  I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to,” Sam said, slightly irritated.

“Cas thinks that you two might be True Mates,” Dean whispered.  “But that’s insane—two alphas—it’s just about impossible and—“

“We are,” Sam interrupted his brother sharply.

Dean’s expression was almost humorous, if he didn’t simultaneously look horrified.  “What?”

“You heard me,” Sam said.  “We did the quick blood test last night.  Gabe showed up with one of those little devices that lets you know without going to the doctor.  They’re relatively new, but he got his hands on one.”

“That’s not all he got his hands on.”  The Winchesters turned around, surprised at the new voice behind them.  Gabriel was glaring at Dean, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Don’t push me, Novak,” Dean growled.  “I’m still pissed at you.”

“Gabe,” Sam chided his lover.  “Try not to goad Dean for five minutes, okay?”

“I can’t promise anything,” Gabriel grumbled.  He turned to look up at Sam.  “Everyone’s ready to leave.  Are you coming or not?”

“Of course I’m coming,” Sam told him.  He looked back at his brother.  “Don’t worry about me.  I can handle myself.  We can talk about this when we all get back.  Somewhere private.  Just,” he looked at Dean with pleading eyes.  “Just trust me, okay?”

Dean seemed to consider the words before he grunted, “Fine.”  He turned and fixed a look on Gabriel.  “You’re on thin ice,” he told the other Captain.  “Don’t fuck with my brother.”

Gabriel snorted and rolled his eyes.  “You don’t scare me.”

“I should.”

“Well, you don’t.”

“Guys!” Sam cut in.  “Knock it off.”  He turned to Gabe, “We have to go.”

Gabriel and Dean stared each other down for a few more seconds before Sam finally said, “Bye Dean,” and physically pulled Gabriel back to the plane.

As they settled into their jump-seats and the plane took off, Sam kept his eyes on the small figure of his brother standing alone on the tarmac.  Something told him that this was far from over.  He was going to have to work to make Dean understand that this was what Sam wanted.  Dean just wanted him to be happy and cared for.  His brother had a hard time thinking that anyone could be good enough for Sam.  The younger Winchester knew that it might take a while, but eventually Dean would realize that Sam and Gabriel were meant to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sam is super forgiving, but he loves Gabe and he can't help it...I do not blame him because I'd forgive that man for quite a lot...


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone new (and important) is about to show up!

The temperature was around eighty-six degrees Fahrenheit when they landed, with just enough humidity thrown in to be irritating.  The members of Unit Six disembarked and strode across the pavement of the landing strip toward the single story building that promised air conditioning.  Gabriel made sure he was the last one off of the plane, following his men and listening to them chat amongst each other.

He tried to discreetly rub the back of his neck to wipe away the thin sheen of sweat that had already collected on his skin, but Sam noticed him and smiled.  “It’s hot as fuck here,” Gabriel whined unprofessionally to the taller alpha as Sam dropped back to walk with him.

“You don’t like the heat?”

“I’m more of an ‘Indoor Boy,’ if you will,” Gabriel’s voice was laced with innuendo.  “Air conditioning, silk sheets, champagne.  I enjoy little luxuries; and sweating my ass off isn’t one of them.”

“You’d hate being stationed with us for very long then,” Sam laughed.  “It can get pretty brutal in the dead of summer—especially for those ten mile runs each day.” 

Gabriel just grunted as they stepped into the cool air of the building.  The single room of the concrete structure seemed empty until a loud snoring sound came from behind a flimsy room divider in the corner.  Gabe walked over and peeked around it.  There was a man in a blue Beta uniform passed out in his desk chair, mouth open as he slept.  “Hey, buddy!” Gabriel shouted.  He may be a ranking officer, but he wasn’t going to be a complete ass.

The beta snapped awake, almost falling out of the chair as he stood and attempted a salute.  “Sir,” he yawned.  “I’m really sorry, Captain.  There was this thing last night and I—“

Gabe held up his hands.  “I honestly don’t care,” he cut the beta private off.  “Do you have identification packets for my guys?  Major Singer should have sent a care package for me.”

“Uh, yes sir,” the beta said.  “Right here.”  He reached into a half open drawer of the scraped up metal desk and pulled out a large manila envelope.  When he handed it over to Gabe he looked incredibly nervous.

“Are you always this jumpy?” Gabriel asked him.

“No sir,” he replied.

“What’s your name private?” Gabriel opened the envelope and flicked through the contents.

“Um,” the beta twitched and yawned once more.  “Andy, sir.”

“Okay Andy,” Gabriel shoved the papers away and looked up at the beta.  “I’m not going to get you written up for sleeping on the job.  So calm the fuck down.  As I’ve already said, I really don’t care.  Now,” he paused for a moment.  “Do you have a car for us?  _Not_ military issued.  I don’t want to stick out even worse than we already do.”

“Yeah, I can have one brought around that will hold all of you,” Andy said, his face betraying his relief that he wouldn’t be disciplined.

“Great,” Gabriel gave the kid a half-smile and turned back to his unit.  “Change into something normal and then I’ll hand out these beauties,” he waved the fake IDs at them.  “We’ll check in at the hotel and rendezvous tonight at the club.”

“The club?” Gordon spoke up.

“Didn’t you read your fucking information?” Victor narrowed his eyes at the other man.  “The weapons are being run out of the back of a strip club.”

Gordon shrugged, uncaringly.  “I must have missed that.”

“Asshole,” Benny muttered under his breath so that only Sam and Gabe could hear him.  They both tried to hide a smile.  The Southern Lieutenant was correct—Gordon Walker _was_ an ass.

“Just fucking change,” Gabriel said.  “We’re on the clock now.”

They all staked out corners of the room and switched out their clothes.  Gabriel made sure to keep his back to the others because he knew if he caught a glimpse of Sam then _everyone_ would know what was going on between them.  He had a little trouble keeping his emotions out of his expressions.  And who could blame him?  The kid had pecs that would make anyone drool.

Once they were all looking like typical tourists, Gabriel handed out identification and they all piled into the car that Andy had shown to them.  At the last minute, Gabriel flipped the keys to Sam and climbed into the passenger seat, ignoring the stares of the others.  Victor, Benny and Gordon crammed into the backseat together, eyeing the two alphas in front without a word.  No one spoke as Sam played around with the seat, adjusting it for his height.  When he turned to Gabe and whispered “Thanks,” the Captain just shrugged.

“You’re a giant, kiddo,” he said.  “It makes more sense for you to drive.”

It only took a few minutes to get to the relatively shady hotel that they had been booked into.  Sam slid the car into an empty spot on the end and the five alphas piled out to stand on the cracked pavement.  “This place is a shit-hole,” Gordon announced.

“Maybe next time we can book the Hilton just for your delicate ass,” Benny said lowly.

“No one wants to hear it, _private_ ,” Victor chimed in, his voice hard.

Gordon shook his head, looking petulant, but he still kept quiet.  Gabriel and Sam went inside the small office around the corner to get them all registered.  They were back fifteen minutes later with keys for each man.  “You three are in number seventeen,” Gabriel pointed down the sidewalk at one of the last doors facing out to the lot.  “Sammy and I are next door in eighteen.  Both rooms have two beds and a couch.  I don’t give a fuck how you decide who gets the couch, but there better not be any complaining, got it?”

They all nodded.  “Gordon is lowest ranking,” Victor said.  “He’ll take the sofa.  Right, Private Walker?”

His teeth clenched and his eyes narrowed at the Sergeant, but finally Gordon nodded and stalked off toward their room.  “That went well,” Gabriel smiled brightly at the others.  As Victor and Benny went to follow Walker, Gabe reached out and snagged Sam’s arm.  “I have to meet with our contact in about an hour,” he told the younger alpha.  “Do you want to come with me?”

“Of course,” Sam narrowed his eyes.  “You were planning to go alone, weren’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“You _do_ know how stupid that is, don’t you?”

Gabriel shrugged.  “I changed my mind.  You’re coming now.”

Sam shook his head, his thoughts obviously bouncing between affection and frustration as they went to their room.  The door creaked when it opened and there was a visible layer of dust on all the surfaces, including the blankets.  Both men wrinkled their noses and groaned.  “Gordon was right,” Sam said finally as he shut the door.  “This place _is_ a shit-hole.”

“Yeah,” Gabriel agreed easily.  “And the worst part is that everyone else is right next door, which means that _we_ won’t be able to have any noisy fun while we’re here.”

“That wasn’t going to happen anyway, remember?” Sam chuckled.  “You’re really persistent.”

“Only when it involves something that I want,” Gabriel winked at him and walked over to open the window.  “Just because you’re refusing to have any fun with me,” Gabe remarked casually.  “Doesn’t mean that you’re sleeping alone, kiddo.  I expect you to be right next to me, all night long.”

“I think I can accommodate that,” Sam looked at his lover as Gabe approached him.

They both shot a quick glance to the window, making sure that they were truly alone before Gabriel jumped into Sam’s arms, kissing him.  For a few moments, they were lost in the feeling of one another, uncaring as to how much noise they might be making.  Eventually, Sam pulled away, his chest heaving.  “We have to keep it down,” he reminded the Captain.

“I know,” Gabriel grumbled.  “But that doesn’t mean that I have to like it.”

“Fair enough,” Sam said.  “I’m going to unpack some things and give Dean a call before we go meet this ‘contact’ of yours.”  He kissed Gabriel’s cheek quickly one last time before walking away and tossing his bag onto one of the beds.

Watching Sam for a moment, Gabriel finally grunted and flopped down on the other bed, dust particles flying up around him.  “This is gross,” he proclaimed.

Sam didn’t hear him.  He was already on the phone with his brother informing them that they’d landed safely.  Even from across the room, Gabe could make out Dean’s voice lecturing the kid.  Rolling his eyes, Gabriel entertained the thought of calling Cas and asking his little bro to get Dean-o to back the fuck off.  He knew that he’d never actually do that—he preferred to handle things on his own.  Luci was always sweeping in to ‘rescue’ him and it rubbed Gabe the wrong way.  Everyone always assumed that he was a screw-up and never gave him a chance to run his own life.  It got pretty annoying after a few decades.  He had a suspicion that Sam knew exactly how aggravating that felt having grown up with a brother like Dean.

Forcing himself to close his eyes, Gabriel tried to tune out everything except for the soothing sound of Sam’s voice.  He didn’t even realize that he’d dozed off until Sam smacked him on the thigh thirty minutes later.  “We’re going to be late,” Sam told him as Gabriel blinked away the sleep.

Napping was a mistake, because now he was groggy and his head was pounding.  “One second,” Gabe groaned, pulling himself up.  He stumbled into the cramped bathroom and brushed his teeth as quickly as he could.  At least he didn’t have cotton-mouth any longer, which would help.

They stopped next door and told Benny where they were headed, leaving the other Lieutenant in charge for the time being.  As Gabriel set off down the street, he found himself amused that despite his height advantage, Sam was almost running to keep up with him.  “Where are we meeting this guy?” Sam asked as he fell into step next to the shorter alpha.

“Just up the street,” Gabriel told him.

“How do you know him?” Sam asked after another block.

Gabriel slowed and pointed to the right, indicating that they had to turn off of the main road.  “Actually I don’t.  Not personally anyway, just by reputation,” he said as they entered a small park bursting with greenery.  “This was arranged by Major Singer.”

Pushing aside a tree branch that was hanging down over the path, Gabriel made his way confidently toward a large carved stone fountain.  Sam followed just behind him, letting the Captain take the lead.  There was no one in the area, save for one man standing casually by the fountain.  He eyed them as they approached, and Gabriel was reminded of Singer’s warning not to turn his back on the man.  Despite the intense heat, the contact was dressed head to toe in a slick black suit, a crimson tie hanging from his neck.

“Novak?” the man said, not bothering to hide the traces of an English accent.

Gabriel nodded.  “Crowley?”

“At your service.”

“This is my second in command for this op,” Gabriel gestured to Sam.  “Lieutenant Winchester.”

“It’s a pleasure to finally put a face with a name,” Crowley grinned up at Sam.  “I’ve heard _so_ much about you from the Major.  And of course Dean has only wonderful things to say about his giant baby brother.”

Sam narrowed his eyes.  “You know Dean?”

“We’ve met,” was all Crowley would say.  He turned back to Gabriel, effectively shutting off any more questions that Sam may have.  “Here’s the thing,” Crowley said.  “I came to Singer with this because I owe him one and I couldn’t resist screwing over the bastards who are making my life more difficult.  Any chance to fuck with that bastard Roman makes me feel like doing a jig.”

“Roman?” Sam spoke up.  “You mean Richard Roman?” He named a successful alpha businessman who had rumored ties to some shady organizations.  Nothing had ever been proven, however, and Roman was still considered a pillar of the community wherever he went.

“Keep up, Samantha,” Crowley said disdainfully.

“You knew about this?” Sam fixed Gabe with a look.  “You knew who was behind this whole weapons ring, didn’t you?”

“Okay, yeah.  I did,” Gabriel said after a beat.  “I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d go running to Dean with the information.  And an overprotective guy like him would have put the kibosh on this.”

“Dean couldn’t have stopped you from going,” Sam pointed out.  “Your brother is the one who assigned you and he outranks us all.”

Crowley was smirking at them, eyes darting between the two men with amusement.  “No,” Gabriel agreed.  “But he could have stopped _you_ from coming and frankly kiddo, I’m not about to let you out of my sight.”

“Gabriel Novak,” Crowley finally said in his oily voice.  “Naughty boy,” the English alpha shook his finger at Gabe.  “You know how the service feels about two alphas together.”

“I’m aware,” Gabe snapped.  He flinched at the look on Sam’s face.  The younger man was incredulous that Gabe had practically admitted to their relationship to a complete stranger.  Especially one who was in contact with Bobby Singer!

“Watch yourself,” was all Crowley said.  “I’m living proof of the bullshit that can happen if you go down this path.”

“Spare me the lecture,” Gabriel snapped.  “Now tell me what your plan is for tonight.”

He concentrated fully on Crowley and how they were going to proceed for the first step of catching Richard Roman red-handed.  Gabe forced himself not to look over at Sam.  He didn’t want to see his lovers face because he knew that he wasn’t going to like the looks that Sam was giving him.  Once everything was set up for contacting Crowley at his club later that evening, the three of them parted ways.  Sam and Gabe headed back to their crappy motel, while Crowley seemed to simply vanish into the surrounding trees.

The two alphas were silent for the first few blocks of their trip back before Sam finally spoke up.  “What did he mean when he said that he was living proof?”

Sighing, Gabriel slowed his pace a fraction before responding.  “I’ve never met Crowley before,” he began.  “He used to work in the same unit as Major Singer.  Apparently they were like brothers---had each other’s backs and all that crap.”  Sam was silent, so Gabe continued.  “Crowley met this hot piece of ass named Abaddon a few years before he was due to get out.  Fiery red-head with an ass you could sink your teeth into—from what I’ve been told,” he added at the jealous look crossing Sam’s face.  “She and Crowley mated, and then everything went to hell.”

“What happened?” Sam said, his mind automatically going to scenarios involving the death of a mate—which was almost impossible for someone to live through.

Gabriel glanced up at him.  “Not that,” the Captain said.  “I know how your mind works, kiddo.  Abaddon is alive and kicking.”

“Oh,” Sam said, an expression of relief washing over his features.

“She’s an alpha too,” Gabriel told him.

“Crowley mated another alpha?” Sam realized.

“Bingo,” Gabriel smiled grimly.  “Someone let the cat out of the bag.  There are rumors among ranking officers as to who it was, but no one really knows.  Anyway, Crowley got brought up on charges.  I think she did as well.”  He watched Sam’s face carefully.  “The reason that he owes Singer is because the Major stepped in as character witness and got the sentence brought down.  Crowley got a dishonorable discharge and lost most of his pension, but he avoided jail time because of your uncle.”

“So that’s why he’s helping us,” Sam said.

“I know his type,” Gabriel said as they walked into the parking lot of the motel.  “A man like Crowley always keeps his promises and upholds his debts.  If Singer helped him get out of that jam, then Crowley’s been waiting all this time to return the favor—he’s thinking that this is going to do it.”

“That’s why you didn’t care if he knew about us,” Sam fixed Gabriel with a look.  Gabe didn’t answer, he simply unlocked the door to their room.  Before they stepped inside, Sam grabbed Gabriel’s shoulder and spun the smaller alpha to face him.  “Next time, keep me in the loop so I don’t have a minor stroke when you’re reckless like that.”

“Sorry, kiddo,” Gabriel actually looked apologetic.  “It won’t happen again.”

Just before they shut their door, Benny popped out of the other room and called to them.  “We were going to grab something to eat before we head out tonight.”

“Sounds good,” Sam said.

“We should go in shifts,” Gabriel told them both.  “We can’t all be seen together too often.”

“The three of us will go now,” Benny agreed.  “I’ll let you know when we’re back so you two can get some food.”  The Southern man chuckled before saying, “I don’t have to tell you that Gordon isn’t too happy about going undercover as staff while the rest of us will be ‘customers’ at a strip club.”

“I figured,” Gabriel grinned.  “Which is why he got that assignment.  He wanted to be a dick all last week and now he doesn’t get to have any fun.”

Benny hummed.  “Good call, Captain.”  He waved his hand and headed next door to grab Victor and Gordon. 

Once Sam and Gabriel were certain the other three had left and their door was shut, Gabe began pulling off his clothes.  “What are you doing?” Sam said, even as he silently hoped that Gabriel would get completely naked.

“I’m going to take a shower,” Gabe winked at him.  “I can’t smell like sweat and gross with all those pretty omega strippers we’ll be in contact with tonight.”

Sam narrowed his eyes and ground his teeth.  “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Come on, Sammy,” Gabriel was down to just his pants.  “We have to play the part, you know.  And I have a reputation to uphold.  Besides,” Gabe strode over to him and chucked his thumb under Sam’s chin playfully.  “You know you’re the only one for me.”  Sam continued to glare down at his shorter lover.  Finally Gabe blew out a breath and shot Sam his most innocent look.  “You can join me in the shower if it will make you feel better.”

Pretending to consider the offer, Sam pushed his fingers into the waistband of Gabriel’s pants and pushed them down to the floor in one, quick, motion.  “Fine,” Sam said.  “But you have to jerk me off.”  He spun and stomped toward the door, pulling off his own clothes.

Smiling at the fact that apparently he’d riled up his man enough for Sam to circumvent the ‘no sex’ rule, Gabriel licked his lips and followed his lover into the bathroom.  The kid was cute when he was jealous.  Gabe was going to have to remember that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Gabe...don't...just...don't, I swear to Chuck!! Stop it!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry!! I got distracted reading an amazing Sabriel fic yesterday for the first time ("I'll Rise With the Tide, We'll Breathe Underwater" by PaperAnn--check it out because HOLY CHUCK IT IS AMAZING!!), and I completely spaced on posting a new chapter! I am terrible. Anyway, here it is.  
> WARNING: There is slightly rough sex in this chapter and it is NSFW. It also depicts no use of prep or lube/slick which is not safe and shouldn't be done. At the time, it is what is wanted, but still--this isn't safe. It is acknowledged and apologized for near the end.

Crowley’s strip club, ‘The Throne Room,’ was apparently incredibly popular among tourists and locals alike.  After his banishment from the service, the British alpha had wandered down to the islands and made enough money to keep himself and his mate more than comfortable.  The man obviously had a knack for the service industry.  As the four of them walked up to the door of the club, it was obvious that the place did a steady business.  They waved their fake identification at the bouncer who barely glanced at them.  Gabriel forked over some of their slush money to pay the cover fee and they entered the club.

Gordon was already there somewhere, having been sent on ahead in a server’s uniform.  Sam glanced around the dimly lit room before finally spotting the fifth member of their team behind the bar, scowling as he poured drinks for the alpha patrons.  He almost didn’t notice when Gabe, Benny and Victor wandered off, heading for seats by one of the large raised stages.  Sam followed reluctantly.  He was the last to take a seat, making sure that he positioned himself on Gabriel’s right side.

Sam had never enjoyed places like this.  Omegas wandered among the crowd, giving favors to alphas who paid.  Some places were more lenient on what the omegas would do for money, and the thought made Sam feel uncomfortable.  He’d been to a few omega clubs in the past with Dean, who’d always thought they were fun.  Thankfully, after mating Cas, Dean hadn’t suggested a night out that was more wild than drinks and a game of pool at the local bar near their base.  Sam had a feeling that Dean would get his ass handed to him if he came home reeking of omega stripper.

Much to Sam’s dismay, Gabriel seemed perfectly at ease in their surroundings.  Even Victor and Benny, who weren’t incredibly interested in the dancers, didn’t stick out as much as Sam did.  He knew that he looked awkward—he was sitting stiffly in his chair and even flinched when a dancer rubbed her hand along his shoulder.

Appearing at their side, Gordon was suddenly there, glaring at them all.  “Can I get you _gentlemen_ anything to drink?” he said through a clenched jaw.

Gabe looked beyond amused as he placed his order, watching how angry Private Walker was with his assignment.  Apparently his lover had a vindictive streak—Sam made sure to file that information away.  Gordon stomped away and returned a little while later with drinks for all of them.  Sam tried to keep his attention on the dancer in front of them.  Gabriel and Benny were leaning in toward each other making some lewd comments about the omega’s form, while Victor was subtly scanning the entire room.

He jumped when he felt Gabe’s breath on his neck as the Captain whispered to him.  “That’s Roman, over there.” Gabriel didn’t point, but Sam followed his gaze to the corner where an attractive alpha in a clearly expensive suit was holding court.  He had about four other alphas with him and they seemed to be discussing something besides strippers.  Despite that, there were almost ten scantily clad omegas draped all over the table—two of them clinging to Roman’s biceps.

“What are we going to do?” Sam said back softly.

“Nothing much tonight,” Gabriel responded.  “I just wanted to see the layout of the place.  We’ll come back tomorrow and finish this quickly.  I need to give Crowley time to separate Roman from his goon squad.”

“You think Crowley’s going to come through for us?” Sam was skeptical.

His lover shrugged.  “I think he will.  Alphas like him will make a deal and then they’ll keep it.”

“Okay,” Sam’s eyes slid around the room, eventually landing on the omega sliding down the thick silver pole in front of him.  “What are we doing for the rest of the night then?  It would look odd if we just left so soon after arriving.”

Gabriel actually laughed at him loudly.  “The rest of the night is for having fun, kiddo.”

Sam wasn’t sure what Gabe meant right away.  It wasn’t long before he figured it out, and it was definitely not happy about it.  Two scantily clad omegas slid up behind Gabe, pressing just about everything attached to them against the small alpha.  Gabriel leaned back in his chair and smiled at them as he was pawed.  Sam noticed that Benny and Victor had both caught the eye of omegas as well and he rolled his eyes.  At least they would be too busy to notice how pissed off he was.

He knew that Gabe was a flirt.  Hell—the Captain had even _told_ him that he’d be ‘maintaining his reputation,’ that night.  Sam had sort of held out hope that Gabriel was just trying to rile him up and wouldn’t actually follow through.  But here he was, sitting next to his True Mate, who was being felt up by strange omegas, and Sam wanted to punch something.

For almost an hour, Sam waved off omega after omega who approached him, glaring at Gabriel out of the corner of his eye.  His lover had even managed to do a body shot off of one of the omegas before Sam could stop him.  The glint in Gabe’s eyes when he looked up at Sam made the Lieutenant see red.  What the fuck was Gabriel playing at?

The omegas crawling all over Gabe were new now.  He seemed to have a different dancer in his lap every five minutes, which sort of made it worse.  Sam was about to push away another dancer that was soliciting him when he felt a thick hand clamp down on his shoulder.  He looked up to see Benny standing next to him, looking thoughtful, his arm slung around a dancer’s waist.  “You should just give him a taste of his own medicine, brother,” Benny drawled.

“What?” Sam pretended innocence.

Benny’s eyes slid to Gabriel who was laughing as one of the omegas ground down onto his hip.  “You two aren’t fooling anyone,” Benny took the seat next to Sam and fixed him with a look.  “I know it isn’t conventional, but I don’t care.  People weren’t too happy when I mated with Andrea since she was a beta.” 

Sam blinked.  He’d totally forgotten about all of the flack Benny had taken last year when he announced that his mate wasn’t an omega.  Alphas were technically _allowed_ to mate Betas, but it was still sort of a new concept.  Some of the more traditionalists looked down on those pairings as well.  “Anyone with eyes in their head can see that the Captain is in love with you,” Benny told him frankly.  “Victor mentioned it too.  Not to mention that you’ve been carrying each other’s scents all week.”

He could feel the blood draining from his face.  If everyone knew they were going to get in trouble before they could register their status.  Everything was going to get totally fucked!  Benny seemed to notice that Sam was bordering on panic and he placed his hand on Sam’s arm.  “Don’t freak out on me,” Benny said lightly.  “Victor and I aren’t going to say a word.  This is your business—it’s between you and Captain Novak.”  Sam felt his body relax just slightly.  “All I’m saying is,” Benny grinned at him.  “The Captain is a lot like your brother—they like fun.  He’s trying to get a rise out of you, and brother—it’s working.  I can smell you from across the room.  All sorts of pissed off alpha scents are surrounding you.  And he’s cracking up about it on the inside—doesn’t mean he’s a total ass, but—“

“No,” Sam said finally, finding his voice.  “He’s being a dick and he knows it.”

Benny nodded once in agreement.  “I’m just saying that you can play that game too.”

Sam looked at his friend for a beat before he smiled knowingly.  Benny chuckled at him and beckoned the dancer he’d been touching earlier to come closer.  “Sam,” Benny smiled.  “This is Sarah and I believe she would _love_ to give you a private dance.”

He allowed himself a quick glance over at Gabriel.  The other alpha had his hands resting on the hips of the omega in front of him, but Sam could see that Gabe was watching him like a hawk.  Before he could second guess himself, Sam turned back to the practically nude omega that Benny was introducing.  “Pleased to meet you, Sarah.”

The omega smiled sweetly at him and held out her hand.  Sam grasped her fingers and allowed her to tug him out of his chair.  He refused to look backwards as she led him through the crowd toward the private rooms at the back, but he could feel Gabriel’s eyes on him.  Benny was right.  If Gabe could act like a douche, then he could as well.

* * *

For perhaps the first time in his life, Gabriel wasn’t paying any attention to the strippers that were rubbing against him.  His total focus was on Sam.  He watched his lover smile up at the omega that Benny had brought over and take her hand.  His mouth actually fell open when he saw that Sam was letting her lead him to the back rooms.  What the fuck?

Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice that sounded an awful lot like Cas’ said, ‘You brought this on yourself.’  Gabriel grit his teeth and practically shoved the pliant omega dancer out of his lap.  He stood quickly and tossed a few bills toward the omegas before stalking over to Benny.  The Southern Lieutenant had caught the eye of another dancer and was enjoying her company—although slightly more innocently than Gabriel had been encouraging earlier.

“Lafitte?” Gabe said sharply as he walked up to his subordinate.  “Where does Winchester think he’s going?”

Benny looked up at him lazily, a knowing smile playing on his lips.  “Well, Cap,” he drawled.  “I’m pretty sure he took that nice omega up on a private dance…among other things.”

Gabriel’s eyes flashed as a stab of pure rage shot through him.  _No one_ was allowed to touch Sam except for him!  Rationally, he knew that he’d started it by allowing the omega dancers to crawl all over him.  That probably pissed Sam off.  The unfamiliar feeling of guilt washed over the Captain as he realized that he had royally fucked up.  And it was coming right on the tails of his screw-up the other night.

He made a sound low in his throat and let his eyes close for a split second.  When he opened them again, he saw Benny watching him.  “Normally I don’t encourage these kinds of games,” the Lieutenant fixed Gabriel with a look.  “But I wasn’t too happy about the way you were treating my friend.”

Gritting his teeth, Gabriel snapped, “I’m trying to keep this fucking mission under wraps!  It would look suspicious if we weren’t enjoying ourselves.”

“You seemed as though you were _really_ enjoying things,” Benny observed.  “Funny, how Sam didn’t seem to be having any fun.”

Gabriel glared.  “Keep an eye on Roman with Victor until I get back,” he barked before setting off into the club without a backward glance.  He could hear Benny chuckling as he left.  It just made him angrier.  Obviously he and Sam were making it plain what was going on between them—enough that Lieutenant Lafitte had picked up on it.  That was sloppy, and Gabriel was _never_ sloppy.

No less than five omegas propositioned him as he worked his way through the other patrons, heading after his man.  Gabriel barely spared them a glance as he pushed through the throng toward the back dance rooms.  The silk curtain that he went through opened onto a narrow hallway displaying four doorways on either side—eight in total.  There weren’t actual doors that could be closed, for the dancer’s safety, but thin gossamer curtains that allowed only shadows to be seen.

Gabriel paused outside each opening, scenting the air for Sam.  On the third door, he relaxed at the scent of his soon-to-be mate just beyond the entry.  He glared at the sheer curtain and could see that the omega dancer was _way_ too close to Sam for his liking.  Without another thought, he ripped the curtain aside and stepped into the room, radiating alpha fury in waves.

Sam was seated on a chair in the middle of the room looking about six shades of uncomfortable.  The omega was draped over his lap and leaning in, brushing her lips near his ear.  At the intrusion, they both turned toward Gabriel with looks of surprise.  “Gabe?” Sam said.  His voice was a mixture of shame and relief.

“Get away from him,” Gabriel growled menacingly.

The dancer stood up as fast as she could, moving far away from Sam and the scent of anger radiating off of Gabriel.  “I’m sorry,” she said.  “His friend paid for a dance,” she tried to explain.

“Get out,” Gabriel told her, not taking his eyes off of Sam.

She hurried toward the hallway, just stopping enough to say, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know he was claimed,” to Gabriel as she high-tailed it away.  Once she was gone, Sam’s demeanor changed.  He glared right back at Gabe defiantly.  “What?” he snapped.  “It’s okay for omegas to grope you, but I can’t have a little fun?”

Gabriel knew that Sam had a point—a very valid point—but he really wasn’t thinking clearly.  Without a word, he moved to Sam and grabbed his lover’s shoulders tightly, capturing Sam’s mouth in a hard, unforgiving kiss.  Their teeth clicked together as they met in a messy fusion that neither alpha could resist.  “I’m sorry,” Gabriel growled, even as he continued to run his tongue along Sam’s lips.  “Fuck, kiddo.  I was just—“

“Shut up,” Sam told him.  “You were trying to keep our cover, I know that.  But you didn’t have to such an ass about it.”

“I only want you,” Gabriel said as he licked a stripe along Sam’s neck.  “I shouldn’t have let it go so far.”

“You’re a complete dick, you know that right?” Sam informed him, biting roughly onto Gabe’s lower lip.

“I know,” Gabriel moaned.  “And I won’t do it again.”

“Good,” Sam said, as he tasted Gabe greedily.  “Because the next time you pull something like that, I’ll kill you.”

“Fair enough.”

Their hands were moving on their own, unbuckling belts and yanking down one another’s pants without care or caution.  Gabriel climbed up into Sam’s lap, perching there, rubbing their hard cocks together.  He wasn’t prepared for Sam to grip his hips and hoist in him the air as the taller alpha stood abruptly.  Instinctually, Gabe wrapped his legs around Sam’s hips.  He could feel Sam kicking his pants away from his ankles as his younger lover moved them toward the wall.

Gabe was slammed into the corner roughly as Sam continued to kiss him.  There was no thought, no worry of the consequences, nothing to prepare them.  He pushed his hips down onto Sam, asking him with only his body.  Sam grunted into his ear and slid his hands down, grabbing Gabriel’s exposed ass and pulling him open roughly.  “Sam,” Gabe moaned. 

He wanted this so badly.  He wanted Sam and he didn’t want to wait until they had time and privacy—or slick.  Fuck that.  He deserved a little pain.  He felt Sam’s tip pressing against him and he pushed back, feeling that thick cock press into him.  Sam stumbled slightly, trying to pull away.  “Don’t fucking tease me, kiddo,” Gabriel snapped.

Forcing his hips down as Sam continued to support his weight, he groaned as his lover forced into him.  It burned—almost too much—and Gabe felt a tear prick at the corner of his eye.  He couldn’t find it in himself to give a fuck about that.  He just needed Sam.  Right here, right now, no matter what.

He felt Sam fill him fully and Gabe leaned back a little against the wall to take some of his weight out of his lover’s arms.  Without waiting for permission, Sam thrust into him deeply, forcing him back.  Gabe’s head cracked against the wall and Sam slowed.  Narrowing his eyes, Gabriel squeezed around Sam’s cock, buried deep in his ass and said, “Don’t you dare stop.”

“Wasn’t going to,” Sam lied.  He may be angry and full of the desire to claim, but he honestly didn’t want to _hurt_ Gabe.

Their joining was fast and ruthless, with no whispered endearments and very few kisses.  It was full of the pure need to simply possess.  Gabriel knew that he wasn’t going to last very long.  His arms were looped around Sam’s neck as he held on as tightly as he could, his fingernails digging deeply into Sam’s shoulders.

“I’m _so_ fucking mad at you,” Sam hissed as he pounded into Gabe.

“I know,” Gabriel moaned.  “Fuck.”  He was going to come untouched, he could tell.  That was almost a little embarrassing for him.

As Sam continued to fuck into him, Gabriel felt an overwhelming desire to mate.  He knew that Sam was his—they were made for each other, destined to be together.  He didn’t want to wait until they were back home.  That was an insane idea, he thought.  Gabriel’s mind was fuzzy, his rationality clouded with the buzz of mating pheromones swirling in the room.  He could see that Sam was fighting the same reaction when he looked into his lover’s eyes and saw Sam’s pupils fully dilated.

Without meaning to, Gabriel bent his head while Sam fucked him and latched his lips around the hollow of his lover’s throat.  He bit down, leaving his mating mark on Sam’s skin.  He almost didn’t notice that Sam was biting him as well.  When the younger alpha’s teeth pierced his skin, Gabriel actually moaned deeply at the feeling of finally being claimed.  Each of them lowered their lips, sucking lightly on the fresh marks for a few moments until the friction was overwhelming.

Gabriel came hard, his lips tracing the contours of his claim, raised on Sam Winchester’s skin.  He actually felt the rush of heat when Sam reached his own climax, spilling deep inside of him.  Despite the intensity of their mating, Sam had refrained from knotting him.  Even through his disappointment, Gabriel knew it was a smart choice seeing as they were basically in public.

His body relaxed into Sam’s arms, all of his muscles going limp after the force of his orgasm.  He could feel Sam’s hold on him growing weaker as the younger alpha came down as well, so Gabriel gripped his arms around Sam’s neck tighter.  There was a rustle of fabric from the door and Gabe could see movement out of the corner of his eye, over Sam’s shoulder.

“What the bloody hell are you doing?” Crowley’s voice snapped at them from the door.  Both alphas looked up to see the Englishman glaring at them in disgust.  “I don’t run a bloody bordello, you fucks.  I can smell you out in the club!  Get out before Roman notices anything suspicious.”

Gabriel relaxed his hold on his mate and used his strength to lift himself off of Sam and slide to the floor.  He honestly wasn’t embarrassed a bit about being caught—especially not by Crowley of all people—but Sam’s face was bright red and he looked as though he wished that the earth would swallow him up.  “My apologies,” Gabriel said, as casually as he could.  Crowley snorted at him as Gabriel managed to get his pants back on with incredible speed.  “We didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”

“Get out,” Crowley pointed at the door.  “I’ll call you tomorrow and we can _discuss_ the next step of this…process.”  The strip club owner spun on his expensive dress shoes and walked away without another word.

Gabriel laughed lightly and looked over at Sam.  His mate was still standing against the wall, his pants around his ankles and his face frozen in shock.  “Kiddo?” Gabriel said.  “You might want to get dressed before we get the fuck out of here.”

Sam blinked at him before hurriedly pulling up his pants and walking toward him as though he had no control over his own body.  Gabe looked at him with concern.  “Gabe,” Sam’s voice was quiet.  “What did we do?”

“We slipped up and had some pretty amazing sex,” Gabriel said, tilting his head.

“No!” Sam said sharply.  “We fucking _claimed_ each other!”

“What?” Gabriel said, honestly surprised.  He reached his hand up to his neck and felt the raised skin of Sam’s mating bite.  When he pulled his fingers away there were traces of blood.  Even in the dim light of the private dance room, Gabriel could see his own mark on Sam’s throat.  His eyes widened in horror—he did _not_ remember doing that!  “Fuck!”

“Gabe,” Sam actually sounded terrified.  His voice was small and nervous and the tone broke Gabriel’s heart.  He didn’t want his mate to sound like that—because Sam _was_ his mate now. 

Gabriel was the first to recover and he reached out a hand to Sam, who gripped his palm tightly.  At least he wasn’t panicking enough to run from Gabriel and the Captain considered that a small victory.  “It’s okay, kiddo,” he pulled Sam into his arms and tried to project soothing energy toward the taller alpha.  After a moment, he dislodged Sam from his arms and said, “I’m sorry, but we really have to get out of here.”

Sam nodded glumly.  He didn’t speak as Gabriel guided him through the curtain over the door and into the hallway.  Crowley was leaning against the opposite wall with a smug look on his face.  “Novak,” he smirked.  “You really know how to botch things, don’t you?”

“Fuck off,” Gabe growled at the other alpha.  “Do you have a back door?”

Inclining his head, Crowley pointed toward the end of the hall where there was an emergency exit.  “The alarm doesn’t work, so no one will notice if you leave that way,” the English alpha said.

“Thanks,” Gabriel tried to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.  He slid his arm tighter around Sam’s waist and pulled his new mate toward the exit.

He heard Crowley say, “Good luck,” as they banged out into the alley behind the strip club.  ‘ _Smarmy prick_ ,’ Gabe thought.

“Gabe?” Sam finally spoke.

He glanced up into the blank face of his mate and Gabriel’s spirit tore a fraction at the look in Sam’s eyes.  “Come on, kiddo—let’s get out of here.”  He had to forcibly pull Sam down the street and back toward the hotel.  This was not good—in fact, it was really fucking bad.  Gabriel didn’t know if he could actually handle any more fuck ups—especially ones that were entirely his own fault.

* * *

The walk back to the motel was a blur.  Sam could remember vague things, such as the scent of baking bread coming from a storefront and the feeling of Gabriel’s hand on his waist, but he was on total autopilot.  They reached their room and Gabe pushed him through the door, yanking it shut behind them and clicking the flimsy lock.  The shades were drawn, bathing the room in almost total darkness, save for a single flickering lamp in the corner.

Sam walked toward one of the beds and lay down on top of the covers with almost robotic movements.  He could see Gabriel watching him warily, but Sam didn’t have any clue what to say to his mate.  The silence stretched between them and despite how panicky Sam felt, he was exuding a calming scent.  Determined to always be his polar opposite, Gabriel’s composure from earlier was melting away to reveal the pungent alpha stench of worry emanating from the Captain.

He turned his head and fixed his gaze on his mate who was pressed against the closed door and staring at him.  “Gabe,” Sam said softly.  “Come here.”

For a moment, Sam was worried that Gabriel was going to keep his distance.  The shorter alpha didn’t move a muscle.  He didn’t even blink.  Finally, Gabriel pushed himself off of the door and came slowly toward Sam.  There was a moment of hesitation in his eyes before Gabe finally laid down on the bed next to Sam.  The Captain was rolled up on his side, facing Sam, but there was definite space in between their bodies.  Sam didn’t like that one bit.

It was a biological need that no matter one’s secondary gender, that the first few days and weeks after mating, the entire being cried out to be close to a new mate.  The forced distance, even though it was only a few inches, was excruciating.  Sam could feel his mating mark throbbing, pushing him to reach out for Gabriel and wrap the other man in his arms.

“Sam,” Gabriel’s voice was soft.  He shook his head and closed his mouth, watching Sam.

Realizing what was running through his mate’s mind, Sam rolled over onto his side as well, scooting over a fraction so that their noses were almost touching.  “Don’t,” he said firmly.  When Gabe didn’t respond, Sam reached up and cupped Gabriel’s face in his palm.  The older alpha flinched at the touch, which made Sam want to scream.  “I know what you’re thinking and this _isn’t_ your fault.”

“Like hell it isn’t!” Gabriel finally met his eyes.  He looked furious and Sam was thankful that all of that rage wasn’t actually directed at him.  His mate was shaking with barely controlled emotion, like a highly concentrated ball of explosives.  For the first time, Sam realized that the rumors about the Novak’s tempers weren’t really exaggerated.  “I lost control of myself—again,” Gabriel snapped.  “I shouldn’t have marked you.  This is going to fuck things up so much and I—“

Sam actually dared to reach up and slap his hand over Gabriel’s mouth, cutting him off.  The smaller alpha glared daggers at him and Sam found himself shrinking from the look.  He wasn’t about to back down though, no matter how pissed off Gabriel was.  “This isn’t _just_ on you,” Sam said, trying to be reasonable.  He filled his words with soothing comfort, trying to adjust his scent to cover up the bitterness of Gabriel’s fury circling around them.  “I marked you too,” he reminded Gabe.

Yelping, and pulling his hand away from Gabriel’s mouth as he felt the sharp sting of teeth, Sam looked at his mate with shock.  “You bit me!”

“Not hard,” Gabriel said muttering.  “Look kiddo,” he fixed Sam with a look.  The smell coming from him was still upset and full of disappointment, but it was nowhere near as intense as it had been earlier.  “You would never have marked me on your own.  You just did it because I went there first.  This _is_ my fault.”

Sam shook his head in disagreement but Gabriel kept talking, ignoring him.  “Now getting registered as True Mates is going to be _that_ much harder because I was a dick and couldn’t keep it in my pants.”

He’d had enough.  If he allowed Gabriel to keep rambling, they were never going to resolve anything.  So Sam did the only thing that he could think of—he kissed Gabriel firmly, which shut the other alpha up immediately.  When they finally parted, resting their foreheads together, Sam said, “Okay fine.  You fucked up.  I did too,” he knew that Gabe would try to argue with him, so Sam kissed his mate once more before continuing.  “You may think that I was just following your lead—but I’d already planned on marking you as soon as you walked into that room.”

He heard Gabe suck in a breath and felt the other alpha try to pull away from him.  “Sam,” Gabriel said.  “You don’t have to say that just to make me feel better.”

“I’m not,” Sam said.  “You think I’m this sweet kid, but you have no idea the kind of messed up crap I’ve been through.  You’re not the only one who made a mistake tonight.”  He forced Gabe to meet his eyes.  “If you hadn’t went for it first, then I was going to do it.  I know that this makes everything more complicated, but we’ll figure it out.”

They lay together for a moment in silence.  Gabriel reached out and ran his fingers down Sam’s chest, causing the taller man to lean into the light touch.  “I don’t usually get caught up in the heat of the moment,” Gabe said finally.  “But something about you kiddo, just brings out all of my alpha instincts without my permission.”

Sam smiled at that admission.  He smoothed his fingers over the exposed, raw mating bite on Gabriel’s neck.  “I know what you mean,” he murmured.

Gabriel leaned toward him and brushed his lips over Sam’s.  In seconds they were wound together, trying to get as close as possible as they fervently kissed.  It was desperate touches of the newly mated and Sam tried his best to focus—he wanted to remember this moment for the rest of his life.

Despite the fact that this was an incredibly horrible situation, Sam was still blissfully happy that he finally was mated to the man he loved.  He was well aware that they had some things to work out and would probably end up with disciplinary action when they got home, but Sam pushed all of those thoughts away and concentrated on his mate.

“I love you,” Sam breathed in between kisses.

Gabriel paused and looked at him softly.  The smaller alpha looked as though he might melt from those words.  “I love you too, kiddo,” he said.  “I promise that I’ll fix this.”

“No,” Sam was firm.  “ _We’ll_ fix it.  Together.  Face it, Novak—you’re kind of stuck with me now.”

“I couldn’t be happier about that,” Gabe was abnormally serious.

Unconsciously, Sam ran his hands down Gabe’s back and cupped the shorter man’s firm ass, giving it a light squeeze.  Gabriel bucked into him and his face contorted in a wince.  Sam froze and pulled away, his face showing concern.  “Are you all right?  Did I hurt you?”

“Nah,” Gabriel tried to laugh it off.  “Just a little sore from…our activities.”

“I should have never fucked you without slick,” Sam groaned.  His scent turned sour and he radiated regret.

Gabe actually laughed loudly at that, causing Sam too look at him as though his mate was actually insane.  “We certainly are a pair, aren’t we?” Gabriel smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling.  “Everything we do goes ass-up _wrong_.  And neither of us can wait to take the blame for it.”

Watching his mate’s face as he chuckled, combined with the scent of pure adoration radiating from Gabriel, Sam found himself relaxing into his mate and even managing a smile.  “I guess you have a point,” he said.

Gabriel shifted in the bed, pressing his body into Sam, forcing the taller alpha to curl around him.  Sam loved the feeling of surrounding his mate and pressed his face into Gabe’s hair, even as they both were still laughing.  When Gabe pressed his lips to Sam’s jaw, he finally grew serious and closed his eyes, relishing the feeling of his mate’s touch.  “We’ll work it out,” Gabe whispered.  “I promise.”

“I know,” Sam said.  He knew that Gabe would do everything in his power to make sure that they would be all right.

“We just have to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Gabriel said a little sullenly.

“It isn’t like we can make anything worse at this point,” Sam snorted.

“True,” Gabriel nuzzled into him.  “But you were right—we should have waited until we registered.”

“And we agreed that we were both to blame,” Sam reminded him.  Gabriel huffed, but didn’t speak.  “I didn’t hurt you too badly, did I?” Sam asked finally, sending out a scent of worry.

“No,” Gabriel scoffed.  He looked up into Sam’s eyes.  “I know I don’t look it when I’m standing next to _you_ ,” he snarked.  “But I’m a big boy—I can take a little pain.”

“We are never doing that again,” Sam said firmly.  “If we don’t have slick then it isn’t happening.”

“You say that now,” Gabriel said playfully.

“I’m dead fucking serious, Gabe,” Sam said.

He projected enough into his scent and expression that Gabriel softened against him and finally nodded.  “Okay, kiddo.  If that’s what you want.”

Sam nodded, wrapping his arms around Gabriel’s body.  “We have a big day again tomorrow,” he said as he tried to stifle a yawn.

“Sleep,” Gabriel said, burrowing into him.

Surrounded by the touch and scent of his mate, Sam closed his eyes and drifted off into oblivion.  Gabriel was right—everything would be fine.  They could put this out of their minds until the mission was finished.  The last conscious thought in Sam’s mind before sleep overtook him, was that he hoped the other members of Unit Six wouldn’t notice the fresh mating marks on their bodies.  Their fortune couldn’t be that bad, could it?  At some point, he and Gabriel were going to have to catch a break from the usual shitty luck they had been having.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These two boys just keep fucking up, don't they? LMFAO. Poor babies...


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I spaced and got caught up reading instead of posting. ("Chromaticity" by consoul which is amazing and I am now waiting with baited breath for the sequel--Read it!!) Sorry!!  
> WARNING: Mild violence/blood and injury in this chapter.

Gordon Walker was incredibly pissed off at the direction his life had taken in the last few years.  It had been bad enough to end up demoted after years of hard, loyal service, just because that omega bitch had shown up two years ago.  He still felt utter resentment at Castiel for getting him in so much trouble over a minor ‘misunderstanding.’  At least, that’s how Gordon remembered it.  He’d simply been flirty with the omega in the showers and the whiny little fuck had run to Captain Winchester crying sexual assault.  Figures—omegas were a hell of a lot of trouble, which was why Gordon had never mated.

Now, here he was, stuck on a shitty, and fucking humid, island with the damn omega’s brother telling him what to do.  He despised Captain Gabriel Novak on principle, simply stemming from his rage toward Cas.  Gordon lifted his cigarette to his lips and snorted at the mental image of the Captain.  Who had ever heard of an alpha that freaking short before?  He shook his head, allowing the bitter thoughts to swim through his mind.

He was leaning against the car they had driven from the air strip, trying to calm his rage down with a quick hit of nicotine when the door to room eighteen opened and Sam Winchester stepped outside.  The tall Lieutenant gave a short nod to Gordon, but he didn’t feel like returning it, so he simply stared the other alpha down.  Winchester didn’t seem to care about his reaction and knocked on the other door for the room that their team was occupying.

Taking a drag of his smoke, Gordon watched closely as Benny opened the door and began a hushed conversation with Sam.  The taller alpha turned his head and Gordon narrowed his eyes as he saw something dark marking the Lieutenant’s neck.  He rummaged into his pocket and pulled out his phone, opening the camera.  Gordon held up the phone, trying to remain discreet and zoomed in, focusing the picture on Sam.

He squinted at the camera for a moment before he realized exactly what it was that he was looking at.  Without hesitation, Walker snapped a few quick pictures, make sure to include Sam Winchester’s smug face, so that there was no doubt.  Just as Sam turned to head back to his own room, Gordon palmed his phone, slipping it behind his back.  He innocently lifted the still-lit cigarette to his mouth as he watched Sam.  This time, when Winchester nodded a greeting at him, Gordon returned it with a wide smile.

* * *

The members of Unit Six crowded into the motel room where Benny, Victor, and Gordon were staying.  Gabriel had insisted that they meet there—saying it would be more private, due to its location on the end of the building—but mostly because his and Sam’s room reeked of mating pheromones.

Earlier that morning, while they were still lying together in bed, Sam had informed him that Benny had his suspicions about their relationship.  Gabriel had immediately tensed, but Sam soothed him with promises that Benny would never say anything to anyone.  “If you trust him, then I trust him,” Gabe had said.

Now they were all squashed into the small room going over their plan and positions for the raid later that afternoon.  The idea was to get in and out as quickly as possible, snagging Richard Roman for transport back to the states.  In the mind of the military, Roman was the ring-leader, and if you cut off the head of the snake, then the whole operation would flounder.

According to Crowley, Roman liked to conduct business at the club during off hours.  The snarky alpha had assured Gabriel that Roman would be in attendance around noon that day.  Unit Six was going in as soon as they had confirmation that Dick Roman was in the building.  Gabriel hoped that they would have a handcuffed prisoner and be back on a transport flight by two in the afternoon.  Not that _anything_ in his life had been going according to plan these days, he thought ruefully, shooting a glance at Sam.

Victor and Benny were discussing the best way for them to gain entrance to the club—both men agreeing that heading in through a side fire exit would be easiest.  They could use a shape charge to disengage the lock and turn the thing into an unexpected entrance.  If they used the one that went directly into the main room of the club, they would most likely surprise Roman’s goons long enough for the rest of the team to disable them and grab the man in question.

“This has to be timed down to the second,” Gabriel said adamantly.  “If we aren’t all in the same place at the same time, this is just going to be a cluster-fuck.”

“No shit, boss,” Victor said.  “Don’t you worry about us.”

“This ain’t our first rodeo, brother,” Benny smiled grimly.

“Awesome,” Gabriel glanced quickly at Sam.  “You and I will enter through the back where the dressing rooms are.  Crowley said he’d be there to let us in before he discreetly gets the fuck out of there.”  The collar of his shirt was rubbing against the fresh bite on his neck, and without thinking, Gabriel reached up to scratch it absently.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Gordon messing around with his phone.  “Walker,” he growled.  “Pay fucking attention.  Put the phone away.”  Christ, sometimes Gabe felt like he was wrangling cats—or toddlers.  Both were equally horrifying to him.

“No problem,” Gordon’s smile was oily and made Gabe instinctually feel uncomfortable.  The obnoxious private looked as though he was planning something and the idea turned Gabe’s stomach.

Deciding that he would have to keep an even sharper eye on Walker, Gabriel turned back to the other three and continued to reiterate what was expected of each of them.  Before they knew it, it was time to leave for the club.  They synced up their watches and gave each other grim looks.  Sure, they were a seamless team with an incredible success record—but every mission had the potential to go fucking sideways in the blink of an eye. 

All five of them were still dressed in civilian clothes, wearing official military identification on chains around their necks, tucked under their shirts.  And they were all strapped with just about every weapon known to mankind.

They left the hotel in intervals, trying to maintain anonymity.  Gordon was the first to enter the building, disguised in the uniform of an employee once more.  After a few minutes, Walker’s voice came over the speakers in each team member’s ears confirming that Roman was inside.  He was apparently seated in a large booth near the back of the club—exactly where he had been the previous night.  Gabriel sent a silent thanks to whoever was listening for targets that had a routine.  It made his job _so_ much easier.

He spared a quick glance at Sam.  His mate was at his side, weapon drawn and staring straight ahead, braced for action.  Gabriel allowed himself to drink in the sight of the handsome alpha, a smile curling his lips.  Sam’s eyes slid over for a second and he cocked his eyebrow at Gabriel.  “What?”

“Nothing, sweetheart,” Gabriel winked.

“Focus,” Sam said sternly, but he still smiled back at his mate.

The door in front of them cracked open to reveal Crowley.  The other alpha looked hesitant when he saw them, but he still waved them into the back dressing room.  “Make it fast,” he said lowly to Gabriel.  “There are a few regular patrons out there and I would prefer that they aren’t too traumatized by this.”

“We’ll do our best,” Gabriel said sarcastically.  He checked his watch and saw that it was time.  Benny and Victor would be storming their way in any moment.  “You ready, kiddo?”

“Always,” Sam smirked down at him.

Silently, they both raised their weapons and headed through the dressing area toward the main room of the club.  As soon as the closest customer saw the raised guns, most of the people scattered, heading for the front entrance.  Within moments, the club was virtually empty with the exception of Unit Six and Richard Roman’s entourage. 

Everything was going perfectly.  They had entered the room and managed to approach Roman’s table without being stopped.  Victor and Benny joined them right on time, the explosion of the fire door causing Roman’s bodyguards to jump and waste valuable time reaching their own guns.  “Woah,” Gabriel said casually, levelling his weapon at the forehead of the man to Roman’s right.  The stocky guard had been reaching into his jacket before his eyes snapped up toward Gabe.  “Hands where I can see them, if you don’t mind.”

Sam, Victor and Benny were each covering their own person, leaving Gabriel pretty much free to take Richard Roman into custody.  “Dick,” Gabe said.  “How are things?”

“I can’t complain,” the businessman said.  “You must be one of Lucifer Novak’s little brothers,” he observed.  “You have the same cocky attitude.  The delusions of your own expertise.”

Gabriel laughed mirthlessly.  “It’s not a delusion.”  He motioned with the barrel of his gun.  “You’re going to come with us and we’re all going to take a little trip.  Remember, I can make this easy on you, or very, very difficult.”

The overwhelming stench of alpha power was rolling through the room.  Despite the fact that there were numerous alphas in play, the majority of the scents were coming from Gabriel and Roman.  The two men maintained eye contact as their aggression surrounded everyone.

Finally Roman spoke, smirking.  “I don’t think so.”

Gabriel narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth when he saw Sam lower his gun toward the floor.  He darted his eyes to his mate and saw that Gordon fucking Walker was pressing his gun into Sam’s throat.  “Drop it, Captain,” Gordon said happily.

Despite the pure rage flowing through him, there was a sharp hint of fear coming from Gabriel as he looked at Sam.  His face was completely blank, wholly devoid of emotion, but the scents in the room were telling another story.  Gabe’s hands shook as he immediately lowered his gun.  Benny and Victor followed suit, looking both worried and pissed off.

Richard Roman stood gracefully and walked around the table to face the four remaining members of Unit Six.  “Gordon has been a loyal employee for—how many years now?” he smiled at the private.

“Four,” Gordon grinned.  “What can I say?  Roman Enterprises is funding my retirement.”

“I knew you were in town before you even landed,” Roman said calmly.  “However, I’m not sure how you managed to figure out where I would be.  Care to enlighten me?”  Gabriel’s jaw was set.  He said nothing, but he continued to glare at Roman.  “No?  Too bad.  I could have put you all on the payroll as well.”  He turned to Gordon.  “As we agreed, I’ll let you have first crack at Novak.”

Gordon bared his teeth in an unsettling smile.  He pushed his gun further into Sam’s throat.  To his credit, Sam did little more than look annoyed.  If it had been a different situation, Gabriel would have admitted that his mate’s stoicism was incredibly sexy.  “If you don’t mind,” Gordon said.  “I’d like to put a bullet in Winchester first.  I’d love to see what Novak looks like as he watches the Lieutenant die.”

Gabriel’s jaw clenched even tighter and he narrowed his eyes at Gordon.  “I swear, Walker—I’m going to kill you,” Gabriel’s voice was steady, and there was no mistaking how serious he was. 

Roman glanced between Gabe and Sam and quirked a brow as he seemed to consider the proposition.  He waved his hand uncaringly.  “Fine.”

Gabriel’s entire body tensed, coiled, ready to strike—because there was no fucking way that he was going to let Walker kill his mate.  The sound of the front door slamming open drew everyone’s attention as all the alphas spun toward the noise. 

An incredibly attractive woman walked into the club, her expression completely neutral.  Her long, red hair was swept up in a daring style and the shimmering dress she was barely wearing was clinging to every curve.  She was easily one of the most gorgeous women that any of them had ever seen, and her scent was pure alpha.  Roman’s shoulders relaxed as she approached.  “Abaddon,” he smiled.  “I’m terribly sorry, but I’m conducting a little business at the moment.  I’m sure that your mate told you.  Perhaps another time?”

The smile she gave him was cold and even Gabriel could feel the chill run down his spine at the terrifying look in her eyes.  “Dick, darling,” she said in a low, smooth voice.  “I think that _now_ is the perfect time.”  She was next to him before anyone could move.  Roman didn’t seem uneasy, despite her features, which Gabriel thought was incredibly stupid.  This woman was dangerous—she practically radiated it.

“Hello boys,” a smooth English accent said.  “Don’t move, darling.”  There was a clunk and they all turned once more to see Gordon dropping his weapon onto the floor.  He had his hands in the air and his eyes were wild. 

Gabriel almost laughed when he saw that Crowley was standing behind the dirty traitor, a gun shoved into Walker’s crotch, a twisted smile on the English alpha’s face.  “Crowley!” Roman took a single step toward the other man, his eyes hard.

“Not so fast, honey,” Abaddon said sweetly.  It was almost unnatural how quickly the large dagger jumped into her small hand and pressed into Roman’s neck.  A drop of blood pooled against the man’s skin and he froze.

“What the hell do you two think you’re doing?” Roman seethed.  “We’re friends!”

Despite the fact that his manhood was in jeopardy, Gordon make the foolish decision to try and twist away from Crowley’s grip and shouted, “Roman!”

There was the crack of a gunshot and Gordon doubled over, clawing at his crotch, screaming in a horrifically high voice.  “I believe that I politely asked you not to move,” Crowley said, his voice dripping with disdain.  “I was very cordial about it, wasn’t I, pumpkin?”

“You were,” Abaddon gave Crowley a sickeningly sweet look before turning back to Roman.  “Here’s the thing…Dick,” she spat the man’s name.  “My mate and I are both well aware that _you_ were the slimy fuck that turned us in and got us discharged all those years ago.  We were never friends.  What’s the old saying about keeping your friends close?”

“Keep your enemies closer,” Roman grit his teeth as he responded, shooting daggers at Abaddon.

Crowley was glaring at Roman, not paying much attention to Gordon, who was rolling around at his feet, fully crying.  “Let’s just say that my sweet queen has two pleasures in life,” Crowley said.  “My knot—and revenge.”

“We’ve been waiting so long for you to get what you deserve,” Abaddon leaned in and spoke softly into Roman’s ear.  “I wanted to slit your throat,” she smiled, pressing the dagger a little deeper and opening a small cut near Roman’s jugular.  “But Crowley convinced me to turn you over to these fine gentlemen.  I believe that you’ll be charged with treason, and Crowley repays his debt to Robert Singer.”

“Win, win,” Crowley smirked.

Abaddon slid her expressive eyes over to Gabriel.  “He’s all yours,” she said.  “But I’d be quick about it before I change my mind and open him a new esophagus.”

Gabriel was moving before she could finish her sentence.  He roughly grabbed Roman’s wrists and maneuvered the other alpha so that he could secure his hands behind his back.  He met Abaddon’s gaze and nodded his thanks.  “What about the others?” he asked.

“We’ll deal with them,” Crowley spoke up.  His tone was cruel and slightly amused.  “Don’t you worry your gorgeous little head about that.”

“We’re taking Walker with us,” Sam said firmly. 

Crowley and his mate shared a look.  “Fair enough,” Crowley said, giving Gordon a light kick in the thigh, making the wounded alpha scream once more. 

Abaddon stepped back, lowering her blade and walked smoothly toward her mate.  They gripped one another and shared a fully passionate kiss, uncaring of the on-lookers.  Once they broke apart, Abaddon turned to Gabriel once more and said pointedly, “Run along.”

He grabbed Roman’s arm and pulled him toward the door.  Sam moved to his side, dragging a whimpering Gordon with him.  Victor and Benny followed, retrieving their weapons and raising them slightly as they all backed out of the room.  As they exited the club, they heard Crowley call after them.  “Say hello to Bobby Singer for me,” as he laughed.

* * *

Victor had enough medic training to make sure Gordon was stable before they high-tailed it back to the air-strip.  Crowley’s bullet had grazed the traitor, and the damage wasn’t as bad as it originally looked.  They were all happy that it was definitely painful on Gordon, despite it not being a life-threatening injury.  At the air field, the beta officer, Andy, looked like he might have a stroke when they walked in, dragging two detained prisoners, one of which bled all over the industrial carpeting.  Their plane was gassed and ready to leave within fifteen minutes of their arrival.

Benny threw everyone’s bags into the hold and they all climbed inside.  Sam and Gabriel made sure that Roman and Walker were fully secured in the rear of the plane before joining the others for take-off.  No one spoke as the plane taxied down the runway.  In fact, the majority of the trip was spent in complete silence.  Each member of Unit Six was still in a bit of shock and running over what had happened in their own minds.  This entire op was going to be a black mark for them, and they all knew it.  Betrayed by one of their own and rescued by a disgraced alpha and his obviously sadistic mate.  It was painfully humiliating for all of them.

When they neared their destination, Gabriel finally got up and had the pilot request that they be met by the military police upon landing.  When he came back, he slumped into his seat next to Sam, trying to discreetly press his side into the taller alpha.  They both needed comfort that only a mate could provide, and having to wait for affection was agonizing. 

The plane descended quickly, making a smooth landing back at the training base’s private terminal.  Once they had come to a complete stop, the four alphas stood.  They nodded silently, conveying their distress over the last twelve hours.  Gabriel and Sam wrangled their prisoners outside and into the sun.

Five beta officers approached them and took responsibility for Roman and Walker, moving them off to be booked into the base’s holding facility until further notice.  Gabriel wasn’t sad to see either of them go.  Gordon would most likely never have a knot again, but it didn’t seem enough in Gabe’s mind.  The fucker had tried to kill Sam and it had taken all of Gabriel’s self-control to not empty a few bullets into private’s skull.  His scent was bitter at the thought of how close he had come to losing his mate.

They spent the next few hours suffering through debriefing.  Normally it was a relatively painless process, but each of them were feeling the roiling shame of how totally botched the entire mission had been.  Gabriel had tried to steer it so that he would take the brunt of the blame when the time came—but they all knew they would be getting a mark on their records over this.

After they had been informed that Major Singer would be receiving the report, they were all dismissed.  Benny hurried out to get back to his mate, Andrea.  Victor managed to find a few of the other training officers to head over toward their usual hangout, ‘Purgatory,’ to shoot some pool and wind down.  Sam didn’t say anything, but Gabriel followed him anyway, planning on heading home and finally getting some well-deserved privacy.

The harsh glare of sunlight through the plate-glass windows of the training center caught Gabriel’s attention as they approached the exit.  For some reason, he had a worrisome feeling in the back of his mind.  They had fucked up—that was for sure.  But at the end of the day, Richard Roman was behind bars, and they’d discovered a pretty massive leak within their own unit.  It was something, at the very least.

“Hey,” Sam said as they stepped outside into the setting sun and pulling Gabe’s focus back toward him.  “Look at it this way,” Sam was smiling at him and Gabriel had never seen anything more radiant.  “It’s not like things can get any worse, right?”

“Novak, you son-of-a-bitch!”

Gabriel and Sam whirled toward the furious voice.  Dean Winchester was stalking toward them looking murderous, his eyes fixed on Gabe.  “Famous last words, Sammy,” Gabriel muttered to his mate as the other Captain walked toward them.

From the look of pure hatred on Dean’s face, Gabriel had a feeling that things were going to be getting a _lot_ worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crowley and Abaddon save the day!!  
> Ha! Gordon got shot in the knot!! (I am so happy about that, that it's almost twisted...)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Protective Dean!!

Dean physically dragged his brother and Gabriel to his office.  Sam put up a bit of a protest, throwing Dean’s hand off of his shoulder, but Gabriel just allowed himself to be pushed along in silence.  He actually had a pretty good idea why the older Winchester was so furious.  After all, Gabriel was a big brother too.  The last time he’d seen someone this angry was when Lucifer discovered that Castiel had mated with Dean behind the family’s back.

The door to Dean’s private office slammed shut and the alpha whirled on the newly mated couple, his teeth bared.  “All right,” he snapped.  “Show ‘em to me.”

Sam looked at his brother in pure confusion, but Gabriel knew better than to play dumb.  He pulled the collar of his shirt aside and bared his mating bite to the other Captain.  As Sam watched, Gabriel felt sick to his stomach at the fallen expression on his mate’s face.  Dean turned to his little brother and Sam wordlessly exposed his own mark.  “You dumb fucks,” Dean growled.  “What the hell were you thinking?  Oh wait—you weren’t thinking!”

“Dean, how did you even know?” Sam asked.

His brother didn’t answer, he just whirled on Gabriel with a sneer.  “You just think you can take whatever you want without consequences, don’t you?”  Gabriel looked down at the floor, planning to take all of the older Winchester’s anger on himself.  He still felt horrifically guilty about the unplanned mating as it was—he honestly felt as though he deserved anything that Dean wanted to dish out.

“Back off, Dean!” Sam yelled.  “If I remember correctly, you didn’t exactly ask _Gabriel_ , or Lucifer, for that matter, for permission to mate Cas!”

“That’s different,” Dean snapped.

“Really?  How?”

“It just is,” Dean wasn’t taking his eyes off of the short alpha standing next to his brother.

Sam snorted with fury.  “You’re being an ass—Gabe and I did this _together_.  If you’re going to be pissed at him, then you have to be mad at me too.”

“No, I don’t,” Dean growled.  “He took advantage of you—more than once!”

At that, Gabriel’s head snapped up and he glared at Dean.  He was fine getting lectured about an irresponsible mating—but he drew the line when someone accused him of anything as heinous as Dean was implying.  He was a bit of a Casanova in his past, sure—but everything he had ever done—with the exception of knotting Sam, had been totally consensual.  He prided himself on that fact.  Just because he ‘ _enjoyed’_ himself didn’t mean that he wasn’t a gentleman.  “I didn’t mate him against his will!” Gabe finally joined the argument, his eyes flashing dangerously.

“You sure about that?” Dean stepped into Gabe’s personal space and tried to intimidate him.  It wasn’t hard for Dean to make himself larger than Gabe just due to the height difference, but Gabriel was used to alphas that were much larger than him trying to play this game.  He glared up at Dean and widened his stance, his eyes unblinking.

“I’m fucking positive, _Winchester_ ,” Gabe said.

Dean shook his head and made a face.  “You’re sure you didn’t just see a golden opportunity to fuck with Sammy’s life without me around to keep you in line?  I mean, come on!”  Dean finally glared at his brother for a moment before turning back toward Gabe.  “Why are you like this?” Dean glowered at him.  “I mean, really?  Are you completely incapable of _not_ fucking everything up?”

“Dean!” Sam shouted at his brother in anger.

“It was an accident!” Gabriel yelled at his brother-in-law.

“Yeah?” Dean snapped.  “Everything seems to be a fucking _accident_ with you Gabriel!”

The shorter alpha actually stepped back as though Dean had physically smacked him.  His eyes flashed and he set his teeth, trying to figure out what to say without making everything worse.  Dean wasn’t going to listen to reason—he was just going to blame Gabe for ruining Sam’s life.  “None of this matters anyway,” Dean was saying.

“What?  Why not?” Sam’s tone held a suspicious edge.

“Gordon is in custody as we speak,” Dean told them.  “As soon as he got booked into the brig, he started telling some pretty interesting tales to the officers that were questioning him.”

“What did he say?” Gabriel asked, knowing that he didn’t really want an answer.

“He’s trying to get his sentence reduced by turning the two of you in for Conduct Unbecoming,” Dean spat at Gabriel.  “He told them _all_ about you.  Said that you’re mated and not registered.  It didn’t take very long for them to pull up the personnel files.  On top of that,” Dean glared at his younger brother.  “Gordon’s evidence was pretty compelling.  He has pictures of both of your mating bites.”

All of the color drained out of Sam’s face and he swallowed, looking as though he may vomit.  Gabe moved next to him and grabbed Sam’s hand, trying to ground and steady his mate.

“The only reason that I know any of this is because Bobby gave me a head’s up,” Dean told them, his voice still radiating fury.  “And if Bobby knows, you can be damn sure that Lucifer does too.”

Now it was Gabriel’s turn to feel the bile rise in his throat.  His brother was going to kill him.  He’d probably kill all of them just to get his anger out and then he’d make sure Gabriel suffered.  That was probably a fact.  Colonel Lucifer Novak wasn't known for being forgiving—even to his own family.  It had taken quite a bit to calm him down after Castiel’s mating status had come out.  Most likely, this situation was going to be much worse.

“Bobby knows?” Sam’s voice was small.

“Yeah,” Dean told him.  “And saying that he’s ‘disappointed’ is a huge understatement.  He mentioned something about cutting off Gabriel’s knot with something rusty.”

Gabriel involuntarily flinched and sort of tried to fold in on himself.  Sam moved next to him, placing a long arm around Gabe’s shoulders.  “Bobby is family,” Sam said, his eyes hard.  “But he’ll have to go through me first if he’s going to hurt Gabe.”

Dean’s eyes closed and he sighed, his broad shoulders drooping.  “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

“He’s my _mate,_ Dean,” Sam said.  “I’m sure you understand where I’m coming from now that you have Cas and Mikey.”

“I do,” Dean said, even as he was still shooting dirty looks at Gabriel.  “Sammy, I _do_ get it.  But come on—you just had to wait a few days and you couldn’t keep your hands off of each other long enough not the cause a colossal mess?  This isn’t like you,” Dean said quietly.  “You’ve always been so smart—smarter than me.”  Sam tried to interrupt, but Dean wouldn’t allow it.  “You _are_ ,” he insisted.  “And all of a sudden _he_ comes along and you’re doing the most stupid, reckless things and…I just want to know that you haven’t changed.  That you’re still my little brother.”

“Dean,” Sam actually looked touched and embarrassed by his brother’s unusual display of emotion.  “Of course I’m still the same.”

“You’re not acting like it,” Dean accused.  “I know I push, but I have to look out for you.  It’s my job.  You’re my brother and obviously you’re incapable of making intelligent choices without me.”  He pointed to Gabriel’s chest.  “He’s a bad influence on you.”

Gabriel could see Sam bristle as he narrowed his eyes at his older sibling.  “Dean,” Sam’s voice was low with a warning.  “If you’re going to be rude to _my mate_ , then we’re going to walk out of here and disappear off the face of the earth.  Got it?”

Dean actually looked shocked.  It was as though he’d never had Sam stand up to him before.  Despite the situation, Gabriel preened a bit with pride that his Sammy was being so protective of him.  He watched as a flurry of emotions flickered across Dean’s face before the older Winchester finally nodded.  “Okay.  I’m sorry,” but he didn’t sound very apologetic.  “I will try to be…nice.”

“You do that,” Sam was serious.  For a few moments, the three of them stood in awkward silence.  Sam seemed to be trying to think, while Gabe and Dean just kept shooting nasty looks at each other.  “We have to figure out the right way to approach this,” Sam said into the tense room.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Dean told him.

“We have to register,” Gabriel spoke up.  “Like, yesterday.  That may at least buy us some time.”

“The Personnel Office is closed by now,” Dean told them.  “But I might be able to get around that,” he added after a long pause.

Sam and Gabriel looked up at him in surprise, the slight scent of hope lingering between them.  “Don’t get all excited,” Dean said seriously.  He walked around his desk and picked up his phone.  They watched as he waited for the call to connect.  “Hey beautiful,” Dean’s voice was smooth.  “I know it’s late, but I could really use a favor.”

* * *

When the three of them reached the dark Personnel Office on the other side of the base, an omega woman was waiting for them looking extremely put out.  “Hey Missouri,” Dean greeted her warmly.

“You have some kind of nerve making me come all the way back to work at this time of night,” Missouri snapped at him, but there was no heat behind her tone.

“You’re an angel,” Dean smiled charmingly.  “Missouri is the one who helped me and Cas out of our little…problem.”

She snorted and swatted Dean’s shoulder.  “You mean the fact that you can’t keep your knot in your uniform?”  Dean pretended to be offended but he was smiling affectionately at the omega.  Missouri glanced behind Dean and eyed Sam and Gabriel who were hovering nervously a few feet away.  “You didn’t explain much on the phone,” she accused.  “What’s the problem?”

“Well, this is my little brother Sammy,” Dean pointed.  “He just got himself mated.”

“Mazel Tov,” Missouri said in a bored voice.  “What does that have to do with me?”  Suddenly she narrowed her eyes and stared intently at Sam and Gabriel.  “Oh honeys,” she said after a while, shaking her head.  “You’re both alphas.  You stupid children.”  She turned and unlocked the door to the building, gesturing at them to come inside.

They walked through the dark halls to Missouri’s office and crowded inside.  She sat down behind her desk and booted up the computer.  Once everything was up and running in a no-nonsense tone, she said, “How long has this been going on?”

“A week,” Sam and Gabriel said together.  “About a week,” Sam nodded, adding on the disclaimer.

Missouri hummed.  “And when did you mate?”

“Last night,” Gabriel said softly. 

She fixed them with a look.  “You two just moved right along, didn’t you?”

“Miss…Missouri,” Sam said, leaning forward.

“Mosley,” Dean whispered loudly. 

Sam shot him a glare.  “Miss Mosely,” he continued.  “Gabriel and I are True Mates.”

She looked skeptical.  “Are you now?  You sure you’re not trying to get around the fact that he’s of a higher rank than you and that’s a _big_ problem?”

“We took the stupid blood test,” Gabriel snapped, his patience beginning to thin.

Missouri’s fingers stopped clacking against the keyboard and she looked into Gabriel’s eyes.  For once, the cocky alpha found himself completely unnerved by an omega that wasn’t Castiel.  “Prove it,” she said.  Pulling open a desk drawer, she set the familiar plastic tester on the surface and looked between Sam and Gabe pointedly.

Neither of them even hesitated before they both reached for the box.  They placed their fingers inside and waited for the pin prick.  Once their blood had been taken, Sam set the device back down in front of the omega clerk.  She smiled at them and turned back to the computer.  While they waited the required three minutes, Missouri continued to fill out their registry paperwork.

The small machine beeped happily and Missouri gave it a cursory glance when the tell-tale infinity symbol showed up on the screen.  “Well,” she smiled at them.  “Being True Mates makes this a lot easier.”

Within a half an hour, the paperwork had been electronically filed and was on its way to their respective superiors.  Missouri hustled them out of the building and fixed Dean with a look as she locked up.  “I want the usual,” she told him before walking away.

Sam looked curiously at his brother.  “What do you have to give her?”

Dean blushed a little.  “She met Mikey at one of the Sergeant’s kid’s birthday parties a few months ago,” Dean told them.  “The two of them really hit it off.  Mikey calls her ‘Mizzi’ and he wouldn’t let anyone but her hold him for the rest of the day—not even Cas.”

“Seriously?” Sam laughed.

“Yeah,” Dean told them.  “She likes to have pictures of him as he grows up. She says she puts them on her fridge and brags about him to her book club because Mikey thinks that they’re best friends.”

“That’s actually really cute,” Sam chuckled, looking over at Gabe who was actively biting his lip in an attempt to remain quiet.  “So you bring her pictures of your kid, and she does you incredibly huge favors?”

“Basically, yeah,” Dean said.  “Plus, I flirt with her.”

“She didn’t seem too impressed with your charm, Dean-o,” Gabe finally spoke up.

“Shut up,” Dean growled.  “I’m still pissed at you.  You’re on thin ice, Gabriel.”

They reached Dean’s car and they all climbed into the Impala.  As they left the base, Sam turned in the seat and glanced at Gabriel.  “Well, that’s at least one step in the right direction,” he said.

Dean looked into the rearview mirror and scowled at Gabe’s reflection.  “Try to keep it in your pants tonight, okay?  Bobby’s on the red-eye flight and will want to see you both in the morning to probably scream his lungs out at your stupid asses.  If you walk in smelling like sex, it’s just going to make it worse.”

“I’ll try to restrain myself,” Gabriel said with pure snark.

“We’ll be fine, Dean,” Sam assured him.  “Thanks for the head’s up.”

They pulled into the parking lot of Sam’s apartment and Dean parked next to Sam’s car, the engine idling.  Just as Sam and Gabriel were about to climb out of the car, Dean said.  “Congratulations,” in a very low voice.

Sam smiled at his brother.  “What was that?” he teased.  Gabriel actually froze at the words and was staring openly at Dean.

“I never said it, because I was so pissed,” Dean said begrudgingly.  “But…I want you to be happy Sammy.  You are happy, right?”

“I couldn’t be happier,” Sam gave Gabriel a fond look over his shoulder.

Dean tried not to grimace as he nodded.  “Okay then, that’s all I want.  So,” he managed to meet Gabriel’s eyes.  “Congratulations on your mating.”

“Thank you,” Gabriel was stunned and unsure of what else to say.

Sam shifted in the seat and grabbed his brother’s shoulders, pulling him close in a tight, fast hug.  “Thanks, Dean.”

A moment later, Dean wiggled away saying, “All right, that’s enough.  Get out of here.”  The new mates exited the car together, their hands automatically reaching for connection.  “Don’t smell like sex in the morning,” was the last warning Dean shot at them before he backed up and drove off, a cloud of dust in his wake.

* * *

They were both completely bone-weary by the time they entered Sam’s place.  Gabriel flopped down on the couch and rolled his neck, looking up at Sam.  “I should probably sleep here tonight,” he said, his voice full of remorse.

Sam blinked at him, looking upset.  He didn’t understand why his mate would be rejecting him tonight.  The feelings must have been betrayed by his expression and his scent, because Gabriel immediately sat up and climbed into Sam’s lap, narrowly avoiding kneeing him in the groin.  “No, kiddo,” he said seriously.  “I’m not…I’m not _rejecting_ you.  I would love nothing more than to stay with you all night,” Gabriel said.  He paused long enough to kiss Sam soundly.

“Then, why?” Sam asked as Gabriel’s lips left his.

His mate sighed and slumped a little into his lap.  “Because I’m worried that if I get my hands on you—in a bed—that we’ll show up to see Singer tomorrow smelling a _lot_ like alpha sex.  And Dean is right,” Gabriel said the annoyance bleeding into his voice.  “That would just be maybe the worst idea of all.”

“I think we’ve had some pretty bad ones in the past week,” Sam said jokingly.

“You’re telling me,” Gabriel leaned toward him and pressed their foreheads together.

They stayed unmoving for a while before Gabriel groaned in frustration and tried to pull back.  Sam held him tightly, not allowing his mate to move.  “I believe in you Gabe,” he said.  “I think you can control yourself for one night.”

“I don’t have the best track record controlling myself with you,” Gabriel reminded him.

“Well, I won’t let you do anything.  We won’t even cuddle,” Sam said.  “We can lay next to each other and just…hold hands.”  Gabriel rolled his eyes, but he cracked a small smile.  “Please,” Sam whispered.  “After what happened with Gordon,” Sam tried not to let his emotions leak into his scent, but it didn’t fool Gabriel one bit.  “I just don’t think I’ll be able to sleep without my mate.”

Gabriel rolled his tongue into his cheek and watched Sam for a beat before he said, “Well, kiddo, you know that I can’t deny you anything.”  Sam lit up like a beacon until Gabriel held up one finger with a caveat.  “But,” he said.  “No touching _anything_ except my hand.  If you go roaming all over my body then I will not be held responsible for what I do to your sweet ass.”

Sam gave his mate a tender kiss.  “Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Missouri to the rescue!! Again...


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A tiny bit of NSFW

All of Gabriel’s limbs were wrapped around him and Sam had never been more content to cuddle in his entire life.  He knew that they were running the risk of their scents giving things away, but he didn’t want to let go of his new mate.  Gabe’s body was flush to his chest, the shorter alpha’s head tucked under Sam’s chin as they held one another.  Sam pressed a kiss into Gabriel’s hair and his mate hummed contentedly.  “I swear, that you bring out the worst in me, kiddo,” Gabe mumbled into Sam’s shoulder.

Smiling, Sam ran his fingers along Gabe’s spine.  “Sorry,” he said, knowing that he sounded anything but.  “What exactly have I done?”

“I don’t cuddle,” Gabriel said firmly, even as he burrowed tighter into Sam’s arms.

“Apparently not,” Sam laughed.

Untangling himself a bit, Sam watched as Gabe wiggled enough to finally look up at him.  “I’m not kidding,” Gabriel said, his eyebrow quirked.  “I don’t _do_ any of this snuggly, sweet, domestic crap.  It’s not my style.”

“Could have fooled me,” Sam teased him.

Gabe huffed.  “If Cassie has really told you horrible stories about how I just bed anything that moves,” he shot a look at Sam who simply nodded.  “Then I’m sure he’s mentioned that I have a strict no-cuddling, no spending the night, no using my toothbrush rule.  I’ve always expected my partners to get out as quickly as possible afterwards.”

Sam furrowed his brow.  Gabriel sounded sort of numb and almost mollified at the fact that he was currently snuggling into his _mate._   “That is a horrible confession considering that we should technically be on our honeymoon right now.”

Snorting, Gabriel rolled his eyes and tried to explain.  “I’m horrible with words sometimes and I’m saying this all wrong.”  He puffed a breath out and seemed to steel himself for the next sentence.  “What I’m trying to say, is that you make me _want_ to do all of those dumb sappy things.”  Sam felt Gabe’s body moving against him lightly.  It was as though the smaller alpha was trying to be as physically close as he could without relying on just sex to show how he felt. 

When Sam still didn’t say anything as he processed, he noticed that Gabriel was giving him an almost apprehensive look.  “I love you,” Gabriel finally said softly.  It was only a whisper, but Sam heard it as though his mate had shouted it.  The words echoed between them and Sam found himself giving Gabe the sappiest smile.

“I love you too,” he said, making sure that Gabriel knew he was serious and content.

Gently, Gabriel’s fingers ran through Sam’s hair as he pulled the taller alpha down into a deep kiss.  Their lips grazed one another in a soft touch for a single moment of sweet pleasure.  Neither of them could hold back for long though, and before they could stop themselves, they were kissing deeply and hard.  Both of them were pressing fully into the other, their scents emanating the intensity of their desire.

Sam rolled, forcing Gabriel onto his back as he pulled his body over his mate, pinning the smaller man beneath him.  Instead of trying to dominate, as he usually did, Gabriel melted back into the mattress and allowed Sam to take control.  He pushed his hips down, grinding hard into Gabriel, both men gasping at the friction.  Sam smirked as he felt how incredibly aroused his mate was at the moment.  He used his bulk to gently push Gabe’s legs closed so he could lift his body and straddle his lover.

When Sam rubbed his ass against Gabe’s hard cock, the Captain’s lips fell open in a pleasurable moan.  “I want to ride you,” Sam whispered as he nibbled on the shell of Gabe’s ear.

“Oh, yeah, kiddo,” Gabriel encouraged, gripping Sam’s hair in his fist.  “I want that too.”

Since they had promised Dean to not show up that morning reeking of sex, they’d both worn thin shirts and their underwear to bed the previous night, knowing that if they went to bed naked, it wouldn’t end well.  However, all thoughts of their declarations of responsibility flew from both of their minds as Sam reached down, hooking his fingers into Gabe’s boxer briefs.  He quickly slid them down, exposing his mate’s impressive girth.

His fingers ghosted over Gabriel’s cock for a second before he wrapped his hand around his mate and gave a light squeeze.  He was so engrossed in playing around with his lover that he was a little startled when Gabriel pushed a tube of imitation slick into his free hand.  Their eyes locked and Sam began to lube his mate’s cock, refusing to look away from Gabe’s face.  Sam shifted, sitting up just enough to hover over Gabe before lowering his body.  He could feel Gabe pressing between his ass cheeks, just nudging his hole.

As he sank down, Gabriel entering him just a fraction of an inch, the back of Sam’s thoughts were reminding him that he wasn’t supposed to be doing this.  For the life of him, he couldn’t remember why.  Gabe was his mate—of course it was perfectly fine to have sex with his mate.  He rocked his hips in a tiny motion, pulling Gabe in just a little more, the Captain’s breath catching at the sensations.  Sam braced himself, preparing to fully slide down onto Gabe’s dick when his phone rang loudly, startling them both.

He could see the caller identification flashing his brother’s name and Sam groaned in frustration.  “I’m sorry,” he said, sounding slightly irked.

Gabriel just placed his hands on Sam’s hips, rubbing his thumbs in circles on Sam’s skin.  Leaning over, which caused him to pull off of his lover, much to his dismay, Sam grabbed the phone and barked, “Yeah, what?”

“Hey,” Dean snapped back.  “I’m the one doing _you_ a favor here.”

“Dean, it’s five in the morning,” Sam ran his fingers through his hair and tried to ignore Gabriel who was now toying with his nipples.

“I know,” Dean said sharply.  “But Bobby showed up at my door a half an hour ago.  He drank all of my coffee and accidentally woke Mikey up while he yelled at me—about _you_!”

Sam sucked in his breath.  “I thought he wasn’t arriving for a few more hours.”  Gabriel stopped touching him and looked up to his face seriously.

“Apparently I was wrong,” Dean told him.  “Look, he’s changing into a fresh uniform now and then we’re heading into base.  You better meet us there.”  Sam could hear the bone-deep sigh and he tried to push down his own guilt.  “I’m not going to lie,” Dean said.  “Bobby’s not happy.”

“I got it,” Sam said.  “Thanks for calling.  We’ll be there.”

“You better,” Dean was firm.  “Meet us in the conference room.  We can’t use my office.  They had it painted yesterday and it’s still sealed off right now.”

“Okay, yeah,” Sam said, glancing down at Gabriel, who was looking suspicious and quite unhappy.  “Thanks, Dean.”

“No problem.  You had better not show up reeking of alpha sex.”  Dean hung up before Sam could say anything else.

Shit.  Sam looked at Gabe guiltily and his mate cocked his eyebrow in a question.  He knew that his brother was probably just cranky from his sleep being interrupted—but he also knew that Dean tended to take on too much when it came to Sam.  Dean was most likely beside himself worrying about what Bobby was going to say to Sam and Gabe.  Sometimes having an over-protective big brother was a pain in the ass, but occasionally it was kind of nice.

“What’s wrong?” Gabriel sounded sharp and not at all turned-on.

“Bobby’s here,” Sam worried his lip, looking at his lover.

Gabe swore under his breath.  “That was fast.”

“Dean says that he’s furious.”

“And you’re surprised about that?” Gabriel laughed mirthlessly.

“No,” Sam pushed his palms over his face for a moment before letting them drop to his sides.  “I’m just not ready for this conversation.”

“I’m not either,” Gabriel pointed out.  “I’m pretty sure Singer will just yell at you—you’re his family.  Me, on the other hand,” he shrugged casually, despite the scent of distress he was giving off.  “I might end up with a few fatal wounds.”

Sam knew that Gabriel was trying to cheer him up in his own odd way and he forced a smile.  “Bobby isn’t going to kill you.”

Gabriel turned his head and scented the air, wrinkling his nose.  “Well, he might—if we come in smelling like this.”  Sam blinked as Gabe waved his hand between them in a suggestive motion.  His mate was right.  They sort of smelled like an alpha brothel mixed with a pretty hefty amount of possession and desire.

“Yeah, we really have to shower,” Sam said, starting to panic just a little.

“Normally I’d join you,” Gabriel winked at him.  “But I’m sure that would just make this worse.”

Sam nodded in agreement, pulling himself off of his mate and out of bed on shaky legs.  “We don’t have a lot of time.  I’ll be back in five minutes and then you can clean up.”

“Have fun,” Gabe said.  He sounded like he was trying to be playful, but his eyes were hard and he actually looked a bit peaky.

Sam raced through his shower, trying to scrub any trace of scent off of his skin.  When he finally stepped out and shouted to Gabe that it was his turn, Sam’s skin felt almost raw.  He pointedly looked away from his mate when Gabriel walked into the bathroom completely naked.  By the time Sam had dressed in his cleanest uniform, Gabriel was already finished in the shower.  His lover didn’t take long to get ready either, and they were out the door about fifteen minutes after Dean had called.

Sam put the car in reverse, backing out as quickly as he could.  He didn’t want to keep Bobby waiting.  He didn’t even realize that his hands were shaking until Gabriel reached over and placed his palm on Sam’s thigh with a firm squeeze.  “Relax, kiddo,” Gabe smiled at him.  Sam knew that his mate was just as nervous, but he was trying to stay calm and give Sam all of his support.  Sam had never been so grateful for a simple touch.

When they reached the base’s gate, he frowned as Gabe pulled his hand away so that the beta guards wouldn’t see.  It made Sam frown.  He felt almost hollow without Gabriel’s soothing, firm touch.  As soon as the gate guards were in the rear view mirror though, Gabriel’s hand was back on his leg.  He could scent the affection exuding from his mate and managed to give Gabe a small, grateful smile.

They parked, noting that Dean’s Impala was already in its usual spot.  Sam removed his seat belt and turned off the car.  He was just about to get out when Gabriel’s hands were on his face, gently touching his lips and cheeks.  “Hold on,” Gabriel said.

He was almost across the seats, pressing close to Sam, despite the confines and awkwardness of the vehicle’s interior.  Gabriel’s lips were on him in an instant, and Sam melted into the kiss.  It was slow and languid, both of them trying to convey all of their affection and love without words.  “No matter what happens in there,” Gabriel said, leaning back.  “I am always going to love you.  And I couldn’t be happier to have you as a mate.”

Sam’s breath caught.  He couldn’t find the words to express his happiness, so he settled for kissing Gabe quickly once more and saying, “I love you.”

“Of course you do, I’m amazing,” Gabriel smirked at him, trying to make him smile.  It worked.  Sam could feel some of the anxious tension in his shoulders dissipate.  “Let’s get this over with, shall we?  The sooner we deal with your uncle, the faster I can get you back into bed.”

That sounded like an excellent idea to Sam.  They exited the car and started to head into the main training building.  Sam gripped Gabriel’s hand tightly.  He knew it was unconventional and that it could be considered a breach in protocol to show affection in uniform, but he wasn’t about to let go.

The building was mostly dark due to the early hour.  Their shoes clicked, echoing in the empty hallways as they climbed up to the second floor.  As they passed the closed door of Dean’s office, the smell of fresh paint was incredibly noticeable and Sam grimaced.  He wasn’t looking forward to having this out in the conference room where anyone could wander in.  It would have been much more private in the sanctity of Dean’s office. 

He paused, his steps faltering when Gabriel gave his hand a light squeeze.  Sam looked down at his mate, fighting the temptation to kiss him.  They were almost there.  If they just stood there and kept their mouths shut then Bobby would yell for a few minutes and it would be done.  He knew that his uncle wouldn’t be too harsh on them.  At least, he hoped not. 

Just as they reached the door of the conference room, Dean came barreling out toward them.  His eyes locked onto them and he shook his head in the negative.  Sam narrowed his eyes and tilted his head as Dean reached out, placing his palm on Sam’s chest and pushing backward.  “Sammy, don’t,” Dean started.  “I really don’t think—“

“Lieutenant Samuel Winchester,” the firm voice of Major Robert Singer bellowed from behind the door.  “Get your _ass_ in here you idjit!”

Sam gripped Gabriel’s hand tightly, pulling his mate along and side-stepping his brother.  “Sam!” Dean was pleading. 

But Sam was already through the door.  Bobby was standing at the end of the long table, his arms crossed over his chest, his face in a vicious mask.  Sam hadn’t seen his surrogate uncle this furious since he was fifteen and went joy-riding with one of Bobby’s classic cars, side-swiping a few mailboxes along the way.  “Bobby,” Sam said quietly, almost submissive.

“I believe that when you are addressing a superior officer that it’s proper to use their rank, isn’t it _Lieutenant_ ,” a voice came from behind them, somewhere in the shadows of the large room’s corners.  “You _reek_ of alpha sex.  I thought better of you Gabriel.”

Sam felt Gabe’s entire body stiffen beside him, his mate squeezing his fingers hard enough to break bone.  He looked down, shocked at how deathly pale Gabriel had gone.  Before he could ask what was wrong, Gabriel let go of his hand and spun around to face whoever was behind them.  The voice was slightly familiar, but Sam couldn’t place it immediately. 

Watching curiously, Sam saw a tall, uniformed alpha wearing the uniform and insignia of a Colonel step out from behind the door, pushing it shut into Dean’s horrified face, closing the older Winchester out.  The door clicked as it locked.  Gabriel moved a single step away from Sam and while he seemed to be perfectly calm, Sam could see that his mate was shaking with barely contained emotion.  “Lucifer,” Gabriel greeted his brother.  “Fancy meeting you here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luci's here!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is kind of late, I was at the doctor all morning unexpectedly in like crazy horrible pain that hasn't subsided...soooo super dupes.
> 
> WARNING: Implied Lucifer/Meg (non-explicit)

Gabriel wasn’t delusional—he knew that he was a little short for an alpha.  It had never really been a problem before.  He’d always dealt with any nasty comments quickly, effectively and somewhat brutally in the past.  When it came to his brothers, Cas would have never hurt him, but Luci was a different story.  The oldest Novak had taken over as the head of their ‘pack’ after the death of their father years ago.  He knew that he was posturing, widening his stance and squaring his shoulders in an attempt to make himself _look_ bigger to his much larger brother. 

Gabe knew that his brother loved him, but sometimes Luci’s temper got the better of him.  He rarely lashed out physically—Gabe was always ready to hit back if that happened—but he knew exactly the words to use that would twist the knife deeper into the wound.  It was as if Lucifer knew Gabriel’s thoughts and plucked out anything that would ache when said in that snarky tone the Colonel always used. 

He always did his best to defer to his older brother in an official capacity, but when they were home, as a family, all bets were off.  It wasn’t in Gabe’s nature to back down.  Not even from his older, larger, short-tempered brother.  In this moment, however, Gabe was actually unsure of how to proceed.  His natural instinct to square off against Lucifer was warring with his absolute need to protect Sam from his sibling.

Lucifer’s cold eyes were glaring at him as Gabriel subtly stepped in front of Sam, making himself a physical barrier between his mate and his brother.  He felt as though every nerve in his body was vibrating, but Gabe kept a cocky smile plastered on his face just to show Luci that he wasn’t messing around.  “Hey, bro.”

“This isn’t a game, Gabriel,” Lucifer’s nostrils flared.  “How do you think I felt when I got the call from Major Singer to inform me what a gigantic fuck-up my brother is?”  Okay, that sort of stung, but Gabe could handle it.  “You should have told me yourself.”

Despite knowing that he should just apologize to make this as painless as possible, Gabriel just couldn’t help himself.  “My apologies,” he said.  “Next time I’ll send a note—along with a gift basket.  Would that suffice?”

“Gabriel,” Sam hissed from behind him.  He could tell that his mate was shocked at how obnoxious he was being towards a superior officer.  Technically, they _were_ on base and wearing uniforms, but Gabriel didn’t consider this a ‘work’ situation—this was a family matter.  He glanced over his shoulder and threw a wink at Sam, who looked incredibly confused and wary. 

Gabe knew that no matter how angry Sam and Dean were with one another, if they were at work, Sam would always treat Dean with respect.  Gabe knew that after a little while as his mate, Sam would learn that some families didn’t really work that way. 

He did love his brother—of course he did—but the nastiness and name-calling and threats were almost their own twisted way of showing affection.  It wasn’t like they’d had a great example of a loving household while growing up.  Their late father, Michael Novak, had been a stern task-master, and a pretty big douche—in Gabriel’s opinion.

Lucifer raked a hand down his face and fixed Gabriel with a look.  Gabe just stared serenely up at his brother.  “Do you have any idea how badly I want to backhand you so hard you that you don’t wake up for a week?”

The corner of Gabriel’s mouth quirked.  That was sweet, Luci was worried about him. He started a bit as he felt Sam’s hand on his shoulder, pulling him back.  The bitter smell of alpha rage began to fill the room—it was coming from his mate.  “Try it and I’ll snap your neck,” Sam was yelling as he moved forward, trying to step in front of Gabriel.

“Sam,” Bobby growled warningly from behind them.

The conference room door slammed open and Dean stalked in holding a slim tool that he pocketed quickly.  “Did you threaten my brother?” Dean snapped at Lucifer.  The colonel looked amused and slightly interested to figure out how the older Winchester had picked the door lock so quickly.

“Dean,” Bobby’s voice was sharp.  Neither Winchester seemed to be paying any mind to their uncle.

“No,” Lucifer said calmly, looking vaguely amused.  “I threatened _my_ brother.”

Bobby moved to join them, making sure that he was close enough to the Winchesters in case things got ugly.  The Major placed a hand on Dean’s arm and tugged, trying to calm the young Captain down.

“I’m not buying it _Colonel,_ ” Dean said.  “Because I could smell Sammy out in the hall.  I swear to everything that if you hurt him, I’ll—“

“Okay!” Gabriel slid in the center of the other alphas.  He pushed on Dean’s chest enough to make the older Winchester take a step backward.  “Nobody threatened Sam,” he said to Dean.  Turning to his mate, he pushed out scents of comfort.  “Kiddo,” he waited until Sam started looking at him before continuing.  “That’s Luci’s way of showing concern.  It’s creepy, but that’s how he shows love.”

Behind him, Lucifer was shaking his head and chuckling lightly.  “I can’t believe that _both_ of my brothers were dumb enough to get mated to these thick-headed Winchesters.”  He looked at Gabriel.  “You couldn’t have settled down with that nice beta girl from the state department that I set you up with?”

Gabriel wrinkled his nose and shot his brother a look.  “Kali?  No way,” he shook his head.  “She might have been a few screws loose, if you catch my drift.”  He tried not to notice how Sam stiffened and pulled away from him.  He wrapped his fingers around Sam’s wrist and tugged his mate toward him, while keeping his eye on his brother.  “ _Sam_ is my mate.  And that’s final.”

Lucifer ran his eyes between them, lingering a little on Sam, before turning back to Gabe.  “As long as you’re sure.”  He ran his eyes over both of the Winchesters, making sure to narrow his gaze when he looked at Dean.  The two of them still didn’t get along very well—it was more of a begrudging existence to make Cas happy.  “I can’t believe that both of my brothers have such poor taste.”

“Hey!” Dean glared.

“Luci,” Gabe chuckled.  “You really suck sometimes, you know that?”

“I love you too, brother,” Lucifer smiled at Gabriel wolfishly.

Bobby stepped in saying, “If all of the alpha posturing is over, we really need to figure out our plan of action.”

“You’re not going to yell too?” Sam looked at his uncle.

“Not now,” Bobby said.  “Probably later though, so prepare for that.”

Sam visibly relaxed against him, but Gabriel noticed that Dean and Bobby shared a look that was laced with concern.  From the corner of his eye though, Gabe could see that Sam was still glaring at Lucifer, his expression showing that he was trying to work out if the colonel was a threat or actually just teasing them.  As Bobby, Lucifer and Dean began to throw around some ideas, Gabriel took a moment to rub his hand along the small of Sam’s back.  “Don’t worry about my bro,” he told his mate.  “Luci has a mean bite and an even worse bark—but he’s loyal to family.”

“So you don’t think he’s mad?” Sam sounded incredulous.

“Oh hell no,” Gabriel laughed.  “He’s plenty pissed.  At _me_.  But with him, family comes first.  He will do anything for me, Cas, and Mikey—and by extension, Dean.  Give him a little time to cool off, but you’ll see…Lucifer knows that you’re family now.  He’s going to do his best to help us, even if he wants to rip my head off.”

“That’s…a little messed up,” Sam looked down at him.

“What?  Like you and Dean never fight?”

“No,” Sam said.  “I mean, yeah, we fight, but,” he trailed off as Gabriel smirked up at him.  “Okay, I get it, I guess.”  Sam shifted a bit before he spoke again in a whisper.  “He doesn’t hate me because we’re both alphas?”

Before Gabe could say anything, Lucifer spoke, making it very clear that he had been listening to them.  “I’m not saying that I’m a fan of this arrangement,” the Colonel said.  “But Gabriel has always tested boundaries.  I’m not all that surprised that he chose to mate with another alpha.  It’s unconventional and not very widely accepted and _completely_ in character for my brother.”  Lucifer made sure that the Winchesters and Bobby were looking at him.  “If you’re the one that he wants, I’ll make sure that it works out,” Lucifer promised.  “It just might take a while before I don’t want to throttle you both.”

“I second that,” Bobby said, his voice serious as he looked at Sam.  “I love you like a son, but this was monumentally stupid of you, Sam.  I’m not so traditional that I can’t see a pair of True Mates when they’re standing right in front of me—but you two really stepped in it.”

“Our biggest problem now is making sure that you’re registered and have blood proof that you’re True Mates,” Lucifer told them.  “That will go a long way in reducing any punishment.”  He glowered at Gabriel for a moment.  “I still don’t understand why you couldn’t just wait to mate until all the paperwork was filed.  You really are reckless little brother.”

“Hey,” Gabriel said defiantly.  “Have you ever tried to hold back when you have your perfect match in your arms and begging for it?”  Sam flushed bright red.

“Ew,” Dean grumbled.  “Shut up, Gabe.” 

“You know me,” Lucifer said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Gabe waved his hand at his older brother.  “No commitments, no attachments.  You have amazing self-control.  Blah, blah.”

“We registered last night,” Sam finally said, interrupting the Novak’s banter.

“How?” Bobby asked them, narrowing his eyes.

“Dean called in a favor,” Sam supplied.

“And she’s fast,” Dean informed them.  “And discreet.  The paperwork should already be on file by now.”

“That’s one thing down then,” Lucifer said happily.  “Now what about this private who claims to have evidence of conduct unbecoming?”

“Gordon Walker,” Dean spat the name.  “He’s being held on charges of treason here on base until his trial date.  But he’s flashing some photos on his cell phone that show Sam and Gabe with fresh, matching mating bites.  The time stamps will prove that they mated before they registered.”

“He’s trying to get his charges down to a simple dishonorable discharge to avoid prison time or execution,” Bobby added.

“That’s not going to actually work, is it?” Gabriel asked.  “I mean, treason isn’t like he stole a car or didn’t pay his bar tab.”

“No,” Bobby shook his head.  “Walker is still in deep shit, but he could cause a lot of trouble for the two of you.  There is a chance that his sentence will be _slightly_ reduced.”

“What the hell?” Gabriel was furious.  “He betrayed us and tried to kill Sam!”

Lucifer’s eyes flashed.  “He what?”

“I’m going to skin him alive,” Dean added.

“To be fair,” Sam told them.  “He was going to kill me first, and _then_ he was going to shoot Gabriel in the head.”

“Oh yeah,” Gabriel said, nodding with realization.  “He did threaten me too, didn’t he?”  Sam blinked at his mate, shocked that the other alpha could so casually ‘forget’ about a death threat.

“Nobody threatens my family,” Lucifer growled, his eyes practically glowing with alpha rage.

“Calm down, bro,” Gabriel said.  “If anyone gets a shot at Walker it’s me.  He threatened _my_ mate.”

“Well, he threatened _my_ brother,” Dean said.

“I’m pretty sure that I can handle myself,” Sam told them, shooting them each a bitchy look.  “And he threatened my mate too,” he looked pointedly at Gabriel.

“Fine kiddo,” Gabriel said.  “We can kill him together.”

“No one is killing anyone,” Bobby said with a frustrated sound.  “You’re all grown alphas but sometimes I swear that you’re toddlers.”  Even Lucifer looked sheepish at being scolded by the older man.  “We have to try and get the pictures thrown out as evidence and go from there.”

“Evidence?” Dean wrinkled his nose.

“There’s always a hearing when someone is accused of conduct unbecoming,” Sam said.

Lucifer nodded, his scent still giving off furious vibes.  “It’s been scheduled for tomorrow.”

“That soon?” Sam asked in confusion.

“Due to Gordon’s involvement, everyone is trying to sweep this whole mess up as quickly as possible,” Lucifer told them.

“You two need to prepare yourselves that this may result in a discharge,” Bobby said seriously.

“They can’t kick Sammy out!” Dean barked.  “He’s been working for this his whole life!  He’s one of the best alpha trainers that the military has—better than me!”

“Dean,” Sam tried to soothe his brother’s anger.

Gabriel was unusually quiet, not even looking at any of them.  His mind was rolling with possibilities.  As the higher ranking officer, he was the one who would most likely be going down for this whole mess.  At least, he was going to try his damndest to make sure that he took the brunt of the punishment.  He didn’t want Sam to lose his career.  He had a fierce and unwavering need to protect his mate.  The fact that Sam could take care of himself didn’t even factor into Gabriel’s mind.  He just wanted to fix things with as little backlash on Sam as possible.

The room had fallen silent and Gabriel looked up to find the others watching him.  “Gabe?” Sam questioned.

He quirked his mouth into a semblance of a smile and said, “We can’t do anything about it now.  May as well just wait and see how things fall tomorrow at the hearing.”

“I know you tend to avoid things brother, but now is not the time,” Lucifer said, watching Gabriel’s face carefully.

Gabe knew that Lucifer probably had a good idea what he was planning, but his older brother most likely wouldn’t say anything to the others.  Sam could read his emotions now that they were mated though.  It pained Gabriel to have to try and wall his feelings off from Sam, but he knew that it was necessary.  “We should go,” Gabriel said, trying to keep his voice even.  “Luci, it’s been ages since you saw Cas and Mikey.  The kid’s getting pretty big.”

Everyone seemed to realize that Gabriel was done discussing their current problems.  Sam looked as though he wanted to argue, but eventually he just nodded and remained silent.  “Okay, let’s head back to my place,” Dean finally said.  “I’ll let Cas know we’re coming.  I’m sure we could all use some breakfast.”

They all filed out of the room, eager to leave the base before people began trickling in for their workday.  In order to keep Sam from questioning him during the drive, Gabe extended an invitation to his brother to accompany them.  Sam glowered at him, but didn’t protest.  The drive to Castiel and Dean’s home was spent with the two Novaks discussing random things that didn’t pertain to work or mating in any way.  Gabriel could see that Sam was getting more impatient each mile that they drove.

Cas was waiting for them when they pulled into the driveway, parking behind Dean and Bobby.  Lucifer jumped out to greet his youngest brother and Gabriel sighed when Sam pressed the door lock as soon as the colonel was out of the car.  “Something on your mind, kiddo?”

“You wouldn’t do anything…incredibly stupid, would you?” Sam looked at him.

“Who, me?”

“Gabe,” Sam sighed in frustration.

Gabriel’s fake smile faltered as he looked into Sam’s eyes.  “Look,” he said.  “We have a few more hours before all of this goes to hell.  Let’s just go inside and enjoy our family for a little longer.”  He paused.  “A lot of things are going to change tomorrow.”

“Whatever you’re planning, don’t do it,” Sam said, his tone betraying that it was more of an order, and not a request.

“Do you really think I would do something reckless?” Gabriel said, forcing the grin back onto his face.

“Yes, I do,” Sam pushed.

Placing his thumb on Sam’s cheek, Gabriel smiled as his mate leaned into the touch.  “Let it go,” he requested softly.  “Please.”

It took Sam a full minute to respond.  “Okay.”

When they exited the car, everyone else was already inside except for Bobby.  He was waiting on the step, watching the two of them closely.  The Major made an attempt at a smile toward Sam before turning his steely gaze on Gabriel.  “Got a minute?” Singer asked gruffly.

“Of course,” Gabriel replied, glancing up at Sam.  When his mate only shrugged, Gabriel forced his attention onto the superior officer.  Sam went into the house, leaving the two alphas alone out front.  “You’re not going to punch me in the face are you?” Gabe asked.  He still had a decent black-eye from Dean’s hit a few days prior.  “I’d let you get one in because I probably deserve it, but after that I’ll fight back old man.”

Bobby chuckled.  He seemed almost amused with the smaller alpha.  “Dean told me everything this morning.”

“He did?”

Major Singer nodded slowly.  “So I know all about the knotting and the mating and a whole host of other bullshit that I never wanted to know about one of my boys.  Thanks for that, by the way.”  Gabriel knew enough to keep his mouth shut for once.  “I don’t have to tell you that Dean’s…apprehensive about all of this.”

Despite trying to maintain composure, Gabe rolled his eyes.  “I didn’t—“

“I know,” Singer held up his hand, cutting Gabriel off.  “I’ll admit that when I found everything out, I wanted to do some pretty unspeakable things to you.”  Gabe narrowed his eyes remembering the threat to cut his knot off.  “Once I cooled down though, I realized that I know enough about you and your brothers that you wouldn’t take advantage of Sam like that.”

“Thank fuck that _someone_ realizes that!” Gabriel snapped.

“Don’t curse at me,” Singer glared at him.  “I’m still of a higher rank than you.  And I’m also old enough that you’re basically still a pup to me.  I have no problem whooping your ass.”  Gabriel clamped his mouth shut.  “I know my boys,” Bobby continued.  “And I have eyes in my head.  Sam loves you—god knows why—but he does.  So I’ll stand by his choices, just as I stood by Dean.”  Major Singer levelled Gabriel with a look that actually shook the younger alpha to his core.  “Consider this the obligatory ‘parental’ warning.  If you ever hurt him, I’ll bury you…alive.  Understood?”

Gabriel was ashamed to admit that he actually gulped.  Lucifer was always threatening him and it almost didn’t even mean anything at this point.  But Major Singer meant business.  He was an older, more experienced alpha.  And Gabe knew by the look in Bobby’s eyes that he would go to any lengths to protect his boys.  “Absolutely, sir,” he finally managed.  His voice cracked at the end and Gabriel winced in embarrassment.

“Good,” Bobby said.  “You take care of Sam…and I’ll take care of you.  You’re family now.”

Without another word, Major Singer turned and walked into the house leaving a stunned Gabriel alone in the front yard wondering what the hell had just happened.  Exactly how many times in a week could a man get his life threatened?

* * *

Despite his hard and unforgiving reputation in the service—not to mention his ongoing mistrust of Dean—Lucifer was a cuddly little bear around his nephew.  Castiel seemed to be the only one that wasn’t unnerved by the colonel’s constant cooing over the young pup.  Sam and Bobby eyed Lucifer warily looking slightly confused, while Dean and Gabriel kept shooting glaring, unbelieving glances as the older Novak brother.

“You’re kind of creeping me out here, man,” Dean finally said as he watched Lucifer act out a fairy tale using various stuffed animals for young Michael.

“I second that,” Gabriel said, watching his brother.  “This is super disturbing.”

Without looking up at them, and keeping his voice in a playful timbre to not upset the child, Lucifer said, “Between me being a confirmed bachelor and Gabriel mating another alpha—this precious little boy is all that’s continuing the Novak bloodline.”  Lucifer shook a stuffed giraffe at Michael who grabbed at his with his small, chubby hands and giggled.  “Yes, he is.”  He paused to shoot a glare at Gabriel.

“If you’re that weirded out about it, Sam and I can adopt, I guess,” Gabriel said, looking incredibly uncomfortable and wary.

Sam felt his face contort as he turned to his mate.  “No,” he said immediately.  Everyone in the room turned to him.  “Gabe and I don’t _want_ kids.  That’s final.”  He noticed that Gabriel shot him a grateful smile.

“Sam,” Lucifer was looking at him.  “I’m just messing with my brother.  I would never want either of you to enter into a lifestyle that you didn’t want.”  The colonel glanced at Michael fondly.  “I am perfectly happy spoiling this little one for eternity.”

From across the room, Castiel cleared his throat.  “About that,” he said.  “Dean and I have some news.”

“Cas is pregnant!” Dean shouted proudly.

Sam, Gabriel and Cas all rolled their eyes since they already knew and also as a nod to Dean’s exuberant enthusiasm.  Their attitudes all quickly changed when they saw how Lucifer and Bobby lit up with excitement.  Bobby grinned proudly at the pair while Lucifer got so excited that he squeezed Michael into his arms a little too tight.  “Don’t smother my baby,” Cas told his brother sternly.

“I’m sorry,” Lucifer looked panicked and patted Mikey’s head.  “Castiel,” he smiled.  “Another pup!”  Considering how furious the oldest Novak had been when he’d first learned of Cas and Dean’s mating and subsequent ‘bun in the oven,’ Sam was surprised to see how ecstatic Lucifer was at the news.  “Do you know if it is a girl or a boy?”

“Not yet,” Cas told his brother.  “It’s a bit early.  But I do enjoy the tradition of naming our children after family members.”

“Lucifer is a wonderful name,” the Colonel suggested innocently ignoring Dean’s incredulous snort.  “And if it’s a girl, then she could be called Luci.”

“Gabrielle is a good name for a girl too,” Gabriel shot at his brother.

Before anything could dissolve into a warfare of insults and snark, Sam said, “Robert for a boy.”  Bobby’s eyes teared up a little and they all pretended not to notice.

“Samantha for a girl,” Dean smirked at him.

Sam rolled his eyes.  “If you must.  But I was going to say Mary.”

Dean sobered at the mention of their beloved mother’s name.  He and Sam shared a look that was full of enough emotion to get some reassurance and cuddles from their mates.  After a minute or two, Dean waved it off saying that they should really eat something.  Everyone agreed, acting as though the older Winchester hadn’t just been clinging to Cas and sniffling quietly.

The news of the impending life that would soon be joining them buoyed their spirits for the rest of the day.  There was no more talk of anything looming over them, and Sam finally felt himself relax.  Gabriel was right—they needed this last day of normalcy.  Who knew what tomorrow was going to bring?

* * *

Around eight-thirty that night, everyone started to say their goodbyes for the evening.  Bobby would be staying on the air mattress in Michael’s nursery, saying that he wouldn’t be bothered by a restless pup after raising the Winchesters.  No matter how many times it was offered by both Gabriel and Cas, Lucifer begged off their invitations, saying that he would prefer to stay elsewhere.  Dean made a quick call and got Lucifer a room in the Bachelor’s Officer’s Quarters for the duration of his stay.

There were many hugs before Sam, Gabe and Lucifer headed out to Sam’s Charger.  The new mates had offered the colonel a lift back to the base and he’d readily accepted.  Once they arrived, they received a little trouble from the beta guards until Luci leaned forward into the front seat and identified himself in a rather unprofessional manner.  Sam was taken aback; Gabriel laughed. 

When they pulled up to the building, Sam leaned forward, glancing up.  “It seems like yesterday that Cas was staying here,” he commented.

Any response was cut off when someone rapped on the passenger window, causing them all to start.  Gabriel frowned a little as he rolled the window down to reveal Cas’ friend Meg, the omega who had been hitting on him at the bar.  “Hey?” he said in confusion, attempting to ignore the possessive scent emanating from Sam.

Meg leaned on the window and eyed them.  “Captain,” she smiled at Gabriel.  Her nose twitched slightly and she said, “I see that congratulations are in order.”

Sam leaned forward, pressing himself against Gabriel to look at the omega.  “We mated.  He’s mine.  Back off.”

“Samuel,” Lucifer’s voice rang like a bell from the backseat.  “Is that any way to speak to a lovely omega such as this?”  He moved so that she could see him and Meg’s eyes went wide, her nostrils flaring.  “What’s your name sweetheart?”

A sickly sweet scent of omega arousal flowed into the car.  Sam and Gabriel shifted backwards into their seats, wrinkling their noses.  But Lucifer leaned closer, pulsing with alpha pheromones and a predatory smile.  “If you call me ‘sweetheart’ again, Colonel, then you’ll _never_ see the inside of my room,” Meg smiled.

“And what a shame that would be,” Lucifer agreed, his eyes roaming her form.

“Um,” Sam said, looking completely freaked out.

Gabriel reached over and placed a hand on his thigh.  “I’m surprised you haven’t picked up on Novak ‘mating rituals’ in all your time with me Samsquatch.”

“Creepy,” was all that Sam could say.

“Thank you for the ride,” Lucifer said, sliding out of the car and curling around Meg faster than seemed humanly possible.  “I’ll see you two in the morning.  Do _not_ show up smelling like you did this morning.”  Meg snorted.  “Wear blockers if you have to.”  Lucifer gave them a saucy wave and guided Meg toward the building without a backward glance.

“Well,” Sam commented after a moment.  “He works fast.”

“Not everyone puts up as much of a fight as you did, kiddo,” Gabriel said darkly.  He was pushed back into the passenger seat and obviously pouting.

Sam leaned into him, pressing his nose against Gabriel’s neck.  “Well,” Sam mouthed at his jaw.  “Look at it this way.  You get to go home with your _mate_.  Your brother is most likely headed for a one night stand.”  Gabriel still huffed.  “He could pick up herpes,” Sam added.

Turning toward him, Gabriel looked at his mate with a raised eyebrow.  “That is a very good point,” he said, his mood turning.  He shifted, catching Sam’s lips with his own and sucking deeply.  They kissed for what could have been a second, or an age.  “Take me home, Sam.”

Sam may have ran three stop-lights as he raced through town in an effort to get his mate into bed.  Gabriel couldn’t stop laughing at his reckless enthusiasm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See...Luci isn't THAT bad.  
> Protective Bobby!!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The verdict comes down...
> 
> I took liberties with military law/courtroom crap for this...I am aware of this. Just try to suspend disbelief I guess.

Dean and Castiel were spooning in bed.  Both of them had been awake for hours, but neither of them were talking.  Dean was attempting to distract himself but tracing random designs with his finger on Cas’ taut stomach.  He was anxious to see his mate swollen with their pup once more—Cas wouldn’t have a six-pack for much longer.  For his own part to try and push away the thoughts rolling in his mind, Cas was gently running his fingers through Dean’s short hair.

They were nestled tightly, trying to take comfort in one another’s scents.  “I’m worried,” Cas finally said.

“I know, angel,” Dean sighed, leaning in toward his mate’s neck.  “I am too.”

“You don’t understand, Dean,” Cas tried to keep the frustration out of his voice.  “My brother always looks before he leaps.”  He sighed deeply, causing Dean to pull him closer.  “I just don’t have a good feeling about this.”

Dean didn’t know what to say to comfort his mate.  He pulled Cas into his arms and smothered the omega with tender kisses, trying to take the pain away.  He knew what Cas was feeling—he was terrified as well.

* * *

Bobby Singer had spent most of his life in the service.  He’d done his required commitment at the age of eighteen and decided that he enjoyed the work so much that he just kept re-enlisting.  Somehow, despite his rather brash nature, he’d managed to attain the rank of Major.  His greatest joy in life was watching his surrogate sons, Sam and Dean Winchester, succeed in their own careers in the military.

Baby Michael had woken up a few times during the night fussing.  Instead of waking the pup’s parents, Bobby had busied himself warming bottles and reading stories while rocking the young boy back to sleep.  He had always been good with pups, despite never having any of his own.  And Michael was a wonderful distraction.  He kept thinking about Sam and Gabriel and he had to admit that he was apprehensive about how this was all going to turn out.  Bobby didn’t want to see his boy hurt.  And he had a feeling that Gabriel, while trying to do the right thing, may end up making everything worse.

Michael made a small sound in Bobby’s arms and the gruff alpha looked down on the small pup.  “Don’t you go giving me a heart attack like this when you’re all grown up,” he lectured with affectionately.  Mikey squealed in his arms and waved his pudgy fists.  “You’re telling me,” Bobby sighed.

* * *

Lucifer Novak had only taken the attractive omega, Meg, up on her lewd propositions in order to distract himself from what would be happening in the morning.  He would admit that she had done more than her fair share to erase his mind from more unpleasant thoughts.  He honestly hadn’t enjoyed a random sexual encounter so much in a very long time.  In fact, Lucifer had shied away from omegas after the incident with his assigned secretary, Kelly Kline.  He’d thought that they might have had something—she was looking for an alpha to help shuffle her up the ranks.  It had ended badly.

But with Meg Masters, Lucifer had found himself letting go and simply enjoying the feel of an attentive omega wrapped around him.  He and Gabriel shared the same habits in the fact that they tried to kick people out before the sun rose after intercourse.  Obviously Gabriel had changed.  Lucifer didn’t think that he had though.  Apparently he was wrong. 

As he watched the sun rise through the standard issue blinds of the small window, he realized that perhaps, he had changed—more than he knew.  Meg was curled around him, her head pressed into his chest as she slept.  The more he thought about the upcoming hearing, the more he worried for his younger brother.  Ever since their father had died, Lucifer had tried to be the alpha of the family for Gabriel and Castiel’s sake.  He felt as though he had failed them.

The stench of bitter regret filled the room against his will and Meg stirred, opening her eyes.  “Tell me how to make it better, Colonel?” she said playfully, but her eyes were dark with concern for the alpha that she’d just met.

Wordlessly, he pulled her on top of him, kissing her forcefully.  The omega smirked, knowing that _this_ was something she could do to alleviate the alpha’s concern.  “Allow me,” she said, positioning herself over him.  “Don’t worry about a thing—Meg is going to take good care of you.”

* * *

Sam had fallen into bed as soon as they got home, barely able to keep his eyes open.  Gabe crawled in next to his mate, holding him until Sam drifted off to sleep.  He’d stayed awake all night, watching the shadows spread across the room.  Occasionally he would take comfort in his mate’s careful breathing as he slumbered.  Sam was like a drug that had been designed just for him and Gabriel couldn’t get enough.

Around three in the morning, Sam had woken up, gripping Gabriel close, his scent full of fear.  Gabe had guided his mate back onto the bed and covered him with affection until Sam was wiggling underneath him in ecstasy.  When he fucked into the younger alpha, Gabe closed his eyes, trying to hold on to this feeling of completeness for as long as he could.  Sam seemed comforted and that was really all that mattered.

When they were done, tangled together, Gabriel played with Sam’s hair until the younger alpha drifted back into dreamland.  The longer that he lay awake in the dark, the more certain that Gabe became.  This was his mess and he was the only one who could make things right.  As the sun rose, bringing the new day, Gabriel glanced down at his mate and pressed a sweet kiss onto Sam’s forehead.  He just hoped that Sam wouldn’t hate him for what he was about to do.

* * *

Gabriel was already showered, dressed and standing in the kitchen, poking at the coffee maker when Sam woke up.  He was a little confused and upset that his mate hadn’t been with him in the morning, but Sam brushed it off considering what they were going to be facing in the next few hours.  Gabriel was probably nervous, or agitated or…something.  At least that’s what Sam kept telling himself as he took a quick shower and got ready for the day.

For formal hearings, it was customary to wear dress uniforms.  There wasn’t much of a difference from their regular required attire.  Everything was color coordinated by designation but there were more details for formal uniforms.  As well as a different cover; and all medals and insignia that had been earned throughout a career were compulsory.  Sam’s uniform had enough ‘bling’ on it to be proud of, but he actually did a double take when he first laid eyes on Gabe.  He’d never seen his mate in a dress uniform and it was a stunning sight.  The Captain looked every inch the powerful alpha and Sam wasn’t ashamed to admit that it was a turn on.  “Do you even have room for another medal?” Sam said, trying to make his mate smile.

Gabriel picked idly at one of the larger pins on his chest.  “Probably not.”

The dull tone bothered Sam.  He scented the air and was more than a little upset to find that Gabriel was wearing blockers—strong ones.  “What’s going on?”

Shrugging, Gabe simply said, “Nothing.”

“You’re not going to—“ Sam started.

“Don’t tell me what to do, Sam,” Gabriel said seriously, a warning in his words. 

Between the pure alpha tone and the use of his actual name, Sam was suspicious.  He wanted to push, but Gabriel didn’t look as though he was in the mood to indulge.  “Fine,” Sam kept his voice clipped.  “Let’s go then.  We don’t want to be late.”  He didn’t see Gabriel wince as he turned and walked out of the apartment.

They drove in silence toward the base.  Despite the tension, Gabriel still took his hand, running his fingers over Sam’s knuckles.  It was just enough contact to show that no matter how angry his mate seemed, that it wasn’t directed at Sam.  It was a small comfort, but Sam’s mind was whirling with the possibilities of what could go wrong.  He just had this _feeling_.  And it wasn’t a good one.

The disciplinary building that housed the base police and the courtrooms was already bustling with activity when they arrived.  Everyone had turned out to try and support them in case they were needed as character witnesses.  Sam and Gabriel were the last to arrive. 

Cas frowned at Gabriel as the pair approached.  “Your shoes haven’t been polished,” he commented, tilting his head. 

Everyone looked down at Gabriel’s feet.  There was just a hint of dullness and Gabe rolled his eyes.  “I’ve been a little busy,” he told his brother.

“At least you had the decency to wear blockers,” Lucifer grumbled.

Sam looked up to see Dean watching him closely.  “Are you okay, Sammy?”

He nodded once, which was apparently enough to appease his older brother.  Bobby clapped him on the back and gave him a reassuring smile, but didn’t speak.  It meant a lot to Sam that his family was there for support.

The mood was tense as they entered the building—all of them in formal uniform.  Sam felt as though they were going to a funeral.  Everyone was silent and avoiding eye contact.  He knew that this was serious, but conduct unbecoming wasn’t something that would get a person executed.  It wasn’t exactly the end of the world in Sam’s mind.

The omega at the information desk informed them where to go for the hearing and they headed off down the sterile hallways.  “Are we meeting anyone?” Dean asked.

“Technically it’s a First Action Informal Hearing at this point,” Bobby told them.  “Gabriel and Sam will have to address the judge on their own.  He can either decide to move up to a trial or just hand down sentencing immediately.  It all depends on what we—and more importantly _they_ —say.”

Cas was rubbing a soothing hand on his agitated mate’s back, which did quite a bit to calm Dean down.  Sam was grateful for that.  “Who’s the judge?” he asked warily.  Gabriel still hadn’t said much and it was bothering him more than he wanted to admit.

“Major Cain,” Bobby told them.  “He’s a good man—a good soldier.  He’ll be fair.”

“He better be,” Lucifer’s voice held an edge.

“Now Luci,” Gabe finally spoke.  He sounded playful, but Sam could tell that it was forced—and he didn’t like it.  “We wouldn’t want the Major to play favorites just because you threaten him, would we?”

“I wasn’t—“

“’You made the mess, now clean it up,’” Gabe quoted.  “Or should I use the one about lying in your bed?  Which one works better for you?”  He moved through the group, pushing open the doors of the small courtroom without waiting for anyone to speak.

“Well that isn’t good,” Dean said.

“No.  It isn’t,” Castiel confirmed, watching his brother.  Lucifer didn’t say anything.  He just huffed out a sigh and followed Gabriel inside.

Sam was just glad that they both technically were under the command of their own brothers.  Their commanding officers were required to be present for a hearing of this nature.  Dean and Lucifer acting in that capacity meant that there were less people to witness anything that happened.

The six of them took their seats and waited.  Every second dragged on making Sam fidget a little on the hard chair.  On the exact hour mark, the beta guard in the corner announced Major Cain.  “All rise for his honor, Major Timothy Cain.”

The Major was tall with grey shooting through his dark hair.  He had a grim look on his face and the scent of an alpha.  “Please be seated,” Cain said.  He eyed their group.  “Which ones are Captain Gabriel Novak and Lieutenant Sam Winchester?”  Gabe and Sam shared a glance before they stood up to face the judge.  “It seems as though the two of you have gotten yourselves in quite the predicament,” Cain said conversationally.

“Yes sir,” Sam said.  Gabriel remained silent.

The Major’s eyes narrowed at the Captain’s silence, but due to the presence of Lucifer, he didn’t comment.  “All right,” Major Cain said.  “I have some grainy photos printed off of a cell phone.  I also have some official records filed by Corporal Missouri Mosley that has the two of you registered.  It also has official blood test proof of your status as True Mates.”

Sam felt his heart lift just a little.  The judge seemed as though he might be lenient and that would be the best possible outcome.  “I’m inclined to throw out the photos,” Cain continued.  “Due to the fact that they were obtained with a cellular device that was not sanctioned and also forbidden from being brought on the mission in question.  I feel as though I can reasonably say that they were ‘illegally obtained,’ and leave it at that.”

“That is an excellent decision,” Lucifer spoke up.

He earned a rather harsh glare.  “I am aware that you outrank me,” Cain said.  “But please refrain from speaking without permission or I shall have you removed… _Colonel_ Novak.”  Lucifer actually opened his mouth to speak.  Major Cain held up a single finger to his lips almost mockingly to shush the officer.  “I believe that in my long career as a military judge, that I have _earned_ the respect of my position.  Don’t.  Speak.  Again.”

Sam bit his lip and could see Dean and Bobby trying to refrain from finding amusement with Lucifer being taken down a peg by a subordinate.  Even Castiel was looking at the ground and trying to hide a smile.  After an uncomfortably long time with Major Cain smiling at Lucifer, the colonel finally managed to grunt out, “My apologies.”  Bobby elbowed him in the ribs and they all shot Lucifer dirty looks.

“As I was saying,” Major Cain said.  “These pictures will not be taken into consideration in this matter.  Now, I believe that despite the very clearly stated Code #78737-429 that the two of you have entered into not only a relationship between a commander and their subordinate, but also a dual alpha coupling?”

“Yes, sir,” Sam said.  Gabriel just gave a short nod.

“And you did this while fully aware of the consequences of this relationship?” Cain raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, sir,” Sam said again.  Cain nodded, watching both of them curiously as the silence stretched almost unbearably.  “If I may, sir?” Sam finally said.  The Major waved his hand for Sam to continue.  “As you said yourself, the personal paperwork clearly states that Gabriel—Captain Novak—and I are True Mates.  Surely that will be taken into consideration?  The union of True Mates surpasses any ‘opinions’ on alphas being together.”

A feral smile crossed Cain’s lips.  “You are correct that as True Mates, two alphas are allowed to maintain their relationship, by law.”  Everyone except Gabriel visibly relaxed at the words.  “However,” Cain continued.  “It does not excuse the conduct unbecoming in which a superior officer takes advantage of a soldier of lower rank.”

“What?” Sam said, stunned.  He turned to look at his mate and saw that Gabriel was staring straight ahead and didn’t look the least bit surprised at the news.

“In light of your admissions that this relationship took place knowingly despite the regulations set in place—“ Cain began.

“Your honor,” Gabriel said suddenly, speaking for the first time.  “As the ranking officer in this situation, I would like to request that all charges and subsequent punishments be given to me.”  Cain raised a brow.  “I am willing to accept a dishonorable discharge for my actions, as well as relinquish any claim on pension.  I ask that Lieutenant Winchester be allowed to keep his rank and pay grade, as he has no blame in the matter.”

Sam stared at his mate in shock, but Gabriel was refusing to look at him.  Dean and Bobby seemed just as surprised and confused as he did.  However, the other Novaks looked as though they had seen this coming all along.  Neither Lucifer, nor Cas, attempted to stand up for their brother in any way.  Sam noticed that the judge seemed to be actually considering Gabe’s words and it sent a shiver of fear through him.  “Wait,” he said.  “I _do_ have blame—I knew what could happen and I did it anyway.  You can’t blame Gabriel for everything!”

“Unfortunately,” Cain said, still eyeing the Captain.  “As the lower-ranking officer, you technically cannot consent to a relationship with a superior.  That’s why this rule was laid down in the first place, Lieutenant.  Captain Novak officially committed the action all on his own, according to military law.  He has every right to keep you out of this.”  Major Cain watched Gabriel’s face, which remained a stoic mask.  “You’re willing to sacrifice that much to protect your mate?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Admirable,” Cain said.  “Very well, Captain.  I accept your request as adequate punishment for your actions.  Captain Gabriel Novak, you will receive a dishonorable discharge and withdrawal of pension, effective immediately.  No further action will be taken against Lieutenant Samuel Winchester.”  He lifted the large wooden gavel in his hand.  The loud bang echoed throughout the room.  “Dismissed.”

Gabriel turned on his heel and walked out of the small courtroom without a word or a backward glance.  The others stood there for a moment, processing what had just happened.  The Novaks resigned; the Winchesters in astonishment.  Finally, Sam whirled on Lucifer.  “What the hell?  How could you just stand there and let this happen?  Why didn’t you stop him?”

Lucifer looked at him sadly.  “Nothing was going to stop him.  He knew what he was doing.  My brother decided that this was the best course of action and he planned to go through with it.  There was nothing that Castiel or I could have said to change his mind.”

“You knew?” Sam’s voice was cold.  “You both knew what he was going to do?” He glared at Cas as well.

“He wanted to protect you, Sam,” Cas said softly.

Sam didn’t want to hear it.  His mind was a roiling tumult of fury, despair and absolute shock.  He needed his mate.  Sam turned away from his family and stormed off.  He needed to find Gabriel.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry that I disappeared. I know it's been a long time since I updated and I apologize. I've been in the hospital for a while and didn't have access to my laptop until just now. So hopefully I will be able to post the end tomorrow with no trouble.

“Five ball, corner pocket,” Gabriel bent over the pool table and lined up the cue ball.  He aimed and sighted before taking his shot, bouncing the white ball off of the rails.  The numbered ball that he’d called sunk easily and he smirked up at Meg.

“Not bad, Captain,” the omega nurse grinned back.

“Don’t call me that,” Gabriel said roughly.  “I’m not an officer anymore,” he reminded her with a bitter laugh.

Meg had found him storming away from the disciplinary building and offered him a ride.  She’d been heading over to The Roadhouse, the usual ‘burger joint with booze’ for service members to meet a friend and had offered Gabe a lift.  He knew that he should stick around and wait for Sam, but Gabriel needed to get away.  He couldn’t be on the base right now—it was too raw, too fresh.  He also didn’t want to deal with his brothers.  Cas would stare at him awkwardly and Lucifer would probably lecture him about throwing away his life.  Gabe wasn’t in the mood.

They’d both downed a beer and a shot when they’d first arrived, which had helped take some of the edge off.  Meg had asked what happened, but he brushed her off and she had the good sense not to push.  Gabriel was pleased to discover that his brother’s latest conquest wasn’t a typical omega.  If she ended up sticking around, she might even be able to take Lucifer, which was a feat in itself.  Meg had declared Gabriel to be ‘obnoxious when pissed,’ and challenged him to a game of pool in order to distract the alpha.  He accepted.

Two games and six shots later, he was feeling much better than he had when he’d left the base.  His dress uniform shirt was tossed across a table, now wrinkled and stained.  Gabriel didn’t care—he didn’t need the fucking thing anymore.  He’d have to remove all of his medals and give them to Lucifer.  He didn’t have any desire to see them for a long time, if ever.  Gabe grabbed one of the four full shot glasses lined up in front of him and tossed it down.  The burn felt good.

Across the table, Meg downed a shot and then began to examine the remaining balls left on the table.  The door to The Roadhouse opened and Gabriel looked up, almost hoping that it was Sam coming to yell at him.  He was acting like a petulant child and he knew it.  But he had just tossed away a hard-earned career to fix everything.  He needed a minute to get his head on straight before he had to explain to his mate why he’d done something like that without discussing it.  Whoever had come into the bar wasn’t Sam.  Gabriel slumped against the table, both relief and longing flowing through him.

“Uh oh,” Meg said. 

Gabe looked up at her.  She was glancing at her phone with a slightly guilty look on her face.  It was a look that he didn’t like.  “What?” he said on a growl.

Meg had the decency to look ashamed as she pocketed her phone.  “That was your brother,” she said, trying to sound casual.  “He’s on his way.”

“What!” Gabe snapped.

The young waitress, Jo, was clearing a table near them and she too looked up, wrinkling her nose.  “I meant to tell you, Captain,” she said.  “Dean Winchester called the bar earlier looking for you.  He’s on his way over as well.”

“Fucking great,” Gabriel grunted, taking another shot.  “A freaking family reunion.  Super dupes.”  He scuffed his shoes on the floor for a moment.  “Did Lucifer say if Sam was with him?” he asked Meg.

The omega shook her head sadly.  “I don’t know.”

Gabe rubbed his temples and groaned.  He didn’t want to have this conversation—especially in a bar—but there wasn’t much he could do.  He’d already decided against taking off again.  All that would do is make things worse.  He really needed to stop running from things that were unpleasant; it was becoming a bad habit.  He wasn’t quite sure what to do in the meantime, so he simply lined up another shot on the pool table and continued to play.  The full shot glasses that he’d previously ordered remained untouched.

It wasn’t very long before the door to the bar opened once more, and this time, Gabriel knew who it would be.  Lucifer and Dean walked in, scanning the room.  Gabe continued to concentrate on the game, but Meg saw them and waved, beckoning them over.  The two alphas approached, Lucifer looking resigned; Dean furious.  “Can I help you?” Gabriel said snidely as he took another shot before looking up.

“What the hell, man?” Dean snapped.

Gabriel shrugged, but didn’t answer.  He moved around the pool table, eyeing the balls as though this game was the only thing on his mind.  He saw his brother shift out of the corner of his eyes.  “Gabriel,” Lucifer said.  “You know that this can’t be undone.”

“I’m aware of that, Luci,” Gabriel said, bending over knocking the cue ball into the rails.  He missed and swore, stepping aside for Meg to take her turn.  The female omega was taking the lead from him and just continuing to play as though everything was perfectly fine.  Gabriel knew it would piss his brother and Dean off, but he wasn’t concerned about them—he was worried about Sam.

“You pull something like that and then just, what?” Dean glared at him.  “Run off to get drunk…with _Meg_?”

Gabe turned and faced Dean.  He touched his fingers to his nose, in a mockery of a police intoxication field test.  “I’m not drunk,” he said firmly.

“Sam’s freaking out,” Dean told him.

That brought Gabriel up short.  He dipped his head and finally tore his attention away from the game.  “Where is he?”

“He flipped when he realized you took off,” Dean said.  “Bobby and Cas are with him.  I called them as soon as we figured out where you were—they should be here any minute.”

Gabriel wasn’t sure what to say to that.  ‘I’m sorry,’ seemed inadequate.  He decided to remain silent.  He was pretty sure that Dean and Luci wanted to lay into him as much as they could before Sam arrived.

“Remember our little chat where I warned you about messing with Sammy?” Dean said lowly.  “I wasn’t fucking around.  If you keep doing this shit, I will end you.”

Lucifer eyed the older Winchester for a moment before turning to Gabriel.  “Normally I’m against anyone threatening my family, but in this case, brother,” he paused.  “I would probably help Dean in kicking your ass.”  Dean blinked at the Colonel in surprise.  “You should have discussed this with your mate before you shot your mouth off to the judge.  Your life is going to change and Sam had a right to be involved in that decision.”

“Yeah,” Dean finally chimed in, seemingly still surprised that Lucifer was on his side.

“Your life is not solely your own anymore,” Lucifer continued.  “You have a mate now.  That means that you can’t keep messing shit up and then running off.  Sam deserves better than that, and you know it.”

Gabriel hung his head, thoroughly chastised.  “I know,” he said, his voice small.  “I just wanted to make things better without Sam getting dragged into it.”  He looked up at Dean and Lucifer with just a hint of defiance.  “You heard the judge—he agreed that I’m the one to blame.”

“You’re _both_ to blame,” Dean corrected, much to the Novak brother’s surprise.  “Major Cain knew it too.  But you gave him an easy out to brush this under the rug, and he took it.”

“If Sam had been punished as well, perhaps the two of you would have just been demoted and fined,” Lucifer said.  “Now, you’ve thrown away your career—a career you loved—and Sam isn’t going to be ‘okay’ with that.”

Gabe scrunched up his eyes and ran a hand through his messy hair.  “I didn’t _love_ my career, Luci,” he finally said.  His brother goggled at him.  “I know—surprise!”  Gabriel sighed.  He’d been bottling this up for so long because he hadn’t known how Lucifer would take it.  “We’re required to serve,” Gabe said.  “But I kept re-enlisting because it was what we do in our family.  I didn’t really feel as though I had a choice.”

Lucifer looked stunned.  “Gabriel,” he trailed off, unsure.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Gabe said.  “I like the work—I do.  But let’s all be real here,” he fixed his brother and Dean with a look.  “I’m not the best at following orders.”

At that admission, Lucifer snorted.  “No, you’re not.”

“I started thinking that maybe the military isn’t the right place for a loose cannon like me,” Gabriel said.  “So don’t freaking panic about me ‘throwing away my career,’” Gabe smiled at Lucifer with a bittersweet look.  “I wasn’t all that attached to it in the first place.”

“And you knew that Sam was,” Dean said, finally piecing it all together.  “So you took the bullet for him.”

Gabriel pointed a finger at Dean and grinned.  “Bingo.”

Dean opened his mouth, but snapped it closed as the door to The Roadhouse opened once more.  Sam, Castiel and Bobby walked in and saw them.  All three of them looked upset, but Gabriel only had eyes for Sam.

His mate stalked toward them with purpose, their eyes locked as Sam approached.  Gabriel gulped at the look on his mate’s face as Sam came near.  Sam stepped into his space, towering over him and Gabriel actually flinched a little, prepared for Sam to hit him.  Honestly, Gabe didn’t know what to expect from his mate and he was certain that a shot to the jaw would be well deserved. 

In seconds, Sam was on top of him.  He felt his mate’s long arms twist around him and pull him tight against Sam’s chest.  He stood stiffly in the embrace, blinking.  He still hadn’t quite worked out what was going on when Sam lifted his chin and pressed their lips together determinedly.  The kiss was over too soon and Gabriel found himself looking up into his mate’s passionate eyes.  “What.  The _hell_. Is _wrong_ with you?” Sam said before kissing him soundly once more.

“There’s a lot wrong with me, kiddo,” Gabe said, trying for levity.  Sam glowered at him, which shut Gabriel up quickly.

“I know that you were trying to ‘protect’ me in your own misguided way,” Sam said, still holding him.  “But I’m an alpha too—you don’t have to always be watching out for me.  I was willing to take the sentence on my own!”

“I know,” Gabriel tried to cut in.

“No Gabe,” Sam said sharply.  “You keep thinking that you’re the only one who keeps fucking up, but you’re not!  We are equals in this and we both have the same responsibility in how everything turned out.  You can’t just throw your life away for me!  I’m not okay with this at all and—“

Gabriel lifted himself up and pulled Sam down into a kiss, cutting the taller alpha off.  When they broke apart, Gabe ran his thumb along Sam’s jaw tenderly.  “I know,” he said.  “You’re right.  I handled it badly and I’m sorry.  I should have told you what I was going to do.  But don’t think for one second that I threw my life away, kiddo.”

Sam squinted at him in confusion.  “He’s not lying,” Dean spoke up from behind them.  Sam turned to his brother, keeping his arms locked around Gabe’s body.  “He told us before you got here,” Dean said.

“Apparently my brother has never really enjoyed being in the service,” Lucifer added, shooting Sam a small smile.

“What?” Sam looked down at him as Gabe shot his mate a sheepish look.

“I was due to get out in a few months anyway,” Gabriel finally said.  “I wasn’t planning to re-enlist this time.”

“But your pension?” Sam asked.

Gabe shrugged.  “It’s just money.  And I’m not materialistic,” he joked.  “Don’t get me wrong, kiddo, I liked the work.  I just don’t enjoy being bossed around all the time.  And I’m not a huge fan of forced exercise.”  He tried to push a reassuring scent toward Sam.  He smiled when his mate’s body relaxed and Sam closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply.

“What are you going to do?” Sam finally wondered.

“I’ll figure something out,” Gabriel said firmly.  “This isn’t the end of the world.”  He pressed his cheek into Sam’s shoulder and nuzzled the taller alpha.  “I’m really sorry, kiddo.  I should have handled this better.  I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I’m less upset now that I know that you seem fine with all of this,” Sam told him.  “If you’re absolutely sure that this is what you want, then I’m on board.  Just,” he grimaced slightly.  “Try and keep me in the loop next time?”

“No promises,” Gabriel winked at him.  “But I’ll do my best.”

Despite the public setting and the fact that their family was surrounding them, the mates pawed at each other, kissing deeply.  Gabriel pushed his tongue against Sam’s and they both gasped into each other’s mouths.  “Gross, Sammy,” Dean muttered from behind them.  Laughing, the two mates pulled apart, Gabe shooting a cocky smirk at his brother-in-law.  “Do you really have to openly scent-mark my little brother when I’m standing right here?”  He stopped lecturing when Cas pressed to his side and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“If you idjits are all done with the apologies and other bullshit, I might have an idea,” Bobby spoke up from the side, where he had been discreetly chatting with Lucifer.  “That is, if you’re willing to sacrifice a little of that obnoxious pride and accept some help from your family,” the Major eyed Gabriel questioningly.

“He’s fine with that,” Sam spoke for him.  When Gabriel looked up at his mate, Sam chuckled and squeezed him closer.  “You’re fine with it.  You owe me.”

“That I do,” Gabe agreed softly.  He turned to Major Singer, an eyebrow raised in question.  “What did you have in mind?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is only one chapter left after this one...


	18. Chapter 18

_Three months later…_

“Why can’t you just tell me where we’re going?” Sam asked with amusement from the passenger seat of his own car.

“Because,” Gabriel grinned.  “It’s a surprise.  I want you to see my new office, and that’s all I’m telling you.”

“You just like being difficult,” Sam said fondly.

After the hearing, and Gabe’s discharge, the shorter alpha had flown back East for a few weeks to sell his place and pack up his life.  Sam had been miserable without his mate during that time, which prompted Dean to tease him endlessly.  They spoke every single day, whenever they could manage; however, it did little to comfort either of them during the separation.  When Gabe finally came back, driving across the country with his belongings, they didn’t leave Sam’s bedroom for three days.

Sam continued his work as a training officer, but his heart really wasn’t in the job anymore.  His enlistment period was coming to an end in a few weeks and he’d already decided that he was going to leave the service.  He hadn’t broken the news to his mate yet, but he had a feeling that Gabriel would simply support him in whatever he chose to do.

The two of them had moved into a small house on the lake, just down the road from Dean and Castiel, who was getting bigger by the day as his pregnancy progressed.  The four of them often spent the evenings together, having family meals and arguing over who got to hold baby Michael.  With the exception of his job, Sam couldn’t have been happier.

In the last three months, he’d known that Gabriel was working on something, but he didn’t know what it was exactly.  Gabe refused to explain what his plans for employment were, and Sam did his best not to push.  If his mate wanted it to be a surprise, then he would let it happen.  He _did_ know that Gabe had been in almost constant contact with Lucifer and Bobby, as well as taking a few ‘business trips’ back East, which made Sam all the more curious.

That morning, when Sam opened his eyes, it was to the sight of Gabriel standing next to their bed holding a tray of breakfast foods and smiling with excitement.  He’d been happy to let his mate pamper him, smiling through his food as Gabe bounced around on the bed and asked if he wanted to see the ‘new office’ later in the day.  Sam had nodded and told Gabe that nothing would make him happier.  He was secretly just wanting to know _what_ his mate had been up to for the past few months.

They wove through town, Sam asking questions about their destination, and Gabriel dodging them with a grin.  Eventually, Sam just sat back in the seat and gazed out of the window, allowing his mate to keep his secrets.  They were close to the base, near the outside of downtown, but still in a heavily trafficked area for businesses, when Gabe pulled into an almost empty lot and parked.

Sam smiled and shook his head indulgently as Gabriel scrambled out of the car and bounded around to open his door.  “You know that I can manage to exit a vehicle without help, right?” he teased.

His mate wasn’t daunted and just grinned at him.  “I like doing nice things for you,” was all Gabriel said before grabbing his hand and pulling Sam toward the door of the single story building.  The place was all chrome and windows, with curving architecture along with a pretty impressive security system to even enter the front door.  He tilted his head as he watched Gabriel press his index finger into a keypad, causing the door to slide open in front of them.

Inside was a minimalist lobby with a desk, a single tall potted plant and a large sign on the wall saying, ‘Guardian.’  Sam blinked as he looked around.  Behind the desk was a pretty, young omega, smiling at them.  She had dark hair, and piercing blue eyes that reminded Sam of Castiel.  “Good morning, Mr. Novak,” she said.  “Is there anything you need?”

“Hey Hannah,” Gabriel greeted her easily.  “Just showing Sammy around the place.”

“Very good,” she said, smiling up at Sam.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Winchester.  I’ve heard so many wonderful things about you.”

“Uh, thanks?” Sam said, looking at her in confusion.

“We’ll be in my office,” Gabriel told her, tugging on Sam’s hand.

“Of course, Mr. Novak,” she said.  “Please let me know if you require anything.”

“Will do,” Gabe called over his shoulder, pulling Sam with him down a brightly lit hallway.

Sam’s eyes were on a swivel as he looked around.  There seemed to be a few offices that were unused, but set up for the latest in technology.  Most of the doors were open, save for two near the end.  The last door, Gabriel pushed open and yanked Sam into a spacious office with two walls that were completely dedicated to full-length windows.  “What do you think?” Gabe asked, walking over and hopping up onto the enormous desk.  He was swinging his feet and looked at Sam with absolute hope in his eyes.

Looking around the space, Sam could see that it was obviously Gabe’s office.  Everything practically _screamed_ Gabriel Novak, from the large bowl of candy in the corner of the desk, to the framed photo of the two of them on the bookcase.

“What _is_ this place?” Sam finally asked.

“My new business,” Gabriel flung his arms out and beamed.

“I get that,” Sam laughed.  “But what are you doing here?  ‘Guardian?’ What is that?  What kind of a business are you running?”

Gabe wiggled his eyebrows at him suggestively.  “Private security firm,” Gabriel said with a smirk.  “It was Bobby’s idea.” 

Sam was impressed.  It was a very good idea.  Gabe might not have enjoyed following orders, but he was a hell of a good commander and soldier.  People would be hard pressed to find someone else who knew more than Gabriel Novak.  “That’s…actually really amazing, Gabe.”

“I know,” Gabriel hopped off of the desk and strode toward him.  “Luci’s been helping too.  They found me some employees and a few big clients.  It might mean a bit of travel on occasion, but I’ll mostly be calling the shots from here.”  Gabriel looked up at him, as though he was worried.  “I won’t be away from you too often.”

“That’s good,” Sam smiled.  “So…private security?”

Gabe shrugged.  “Bodyguards, installing high-end systems for people looking to have the best—hiring security staff for private residences.  Maybe a couple of operations over-seas for people willing to pay?  That sort of thing.”

“Overseas?” Sam raised a brow.

His mate scowled just a little.  “The term ‘mercenary’ may have been thrown around a bit by Luci—but I’m not going to do anything illegal, I promise.”

“You better not,” Sam said seriously.  “If you end up in some random country’s prison, I will personally rescue you so that I can kick you in the balls.”

“Fair enough,” Gabe smiled at him.

“You have a lot of empty offices,” Sam observed after a beat.

Nodding, Gabriel moved toward him slowly.  “I only have four employees at the moment, including Hannah out front.  One of them is her brother, Inias, who Lucifer sent over—he’s really great, knows more about explosives than even Victor, I think.  Anyway,” Gabriel shifted uncomfortably and looked up at Sam.  “I was thinking that whenever you decide to get out, that maybe you could be my partner?  The office next to mine is really nice and—“

Sam pulled Gabe close and kissed him soundly.  “I’ve been trying to find a way to tell you that I’m leaving when my time is up in two weeks,” Sam said breathily as they continued to kiss.  “I’m finished with the military.  And I would love nothing more than to be one of your ‘mercenaries,’” he joked.

Gabriel poked him in the chest, “Don’t go around saying that,” he said.  “If Dean hears the word, ‘mercenary,’ he’ll freak out.  If he even _thinks_ I’m going to start taking on assassinations, he’ll kill us both.”

“I’m sure Cas will hold him back,” Sam smiled, kissing Gabe once more.

“I meant it when I said, partners,” Gabriel said into Sam’s jaw as he peppered kisses along his mate’s skin.  “We’ll be complete equals.  Mutual decision making and all that fucking crap.”

“Sounds good to me,” Sam tilted his head back.

They moved toward Gabriel’s large, mostly empty desk.  Sam lifted his mate easily and placed him on the edge of the desk, moving in between Gabe’s legs.  Their lips maintained a constant contact as they each began to pull off their clothes.  Gabriel leaned back onto the desk once his shirt was off and his pants undone.  Sam’s top was open, and his pants were around his feet as he crawled over the desk and settled over his mate.

He ground his hips down, pushing his hard dick into Gabriel’s own sizable erection and they both groaned.  Sam sucked greedily at Gabe’s neck, leaving behind a dark bruise right near Gabriel’s now-healed mating mark.  “Who else do you have working for you?” Sam wondered, even as he continued to kiss every inch of Gabe’s skin.

The door creaked open, startling them both, and Crowley stepped into the office saying, “I thought I heard you in here and—oh come on!”  They both glanced up at the English alpha who was glaring at them from the doorway, his red-headed mate, Abaddon behind him, laughing.  “You said,” Crowley pointed accusingly at Gabriel.  “You said that if Sam joined us, there wouldn’t be any sex in the office!”

“I lied,” Gabriel grinned, pulling Sam back down for another searing kiss.

Crowley grumbled as Abaddon pulled him away, shutting the door behind them.  “To answer your question,” Gabe looked up at him.  “Bobby convinced Crowley to leave the islands and get back into the business.  Abaddon joined him.  I hope you don’t mind working with a few slightly psychotic alphas—they’re really nice when you get to know them.”

“Now I know why you want me to come work here,” Sam laughed.  “The three of you obviously need someone to be the voice of reason.”

“Yeah,” Gabriel agreed.  “We’d probably start a minor war on our own.  What can I say?  I need you, kiddo.”

“I know you do,” Sam smiled down at him.  Their lips met in an unusually soft kiss from the ones they had previously bestowed.  No longer were they rushed in their coupling.  Sam wanted to savor this.  They were finally moving on with their lives.  And Gabriel had been right—it was for the better this way.  They were both happy and no one could come between them any longer.  “I love you,” Sam said.

“I know, kiddo,” Gabriel kissed him again.  “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it!! Thank you all who have stuck with me through this--I really appreciate it, and I hope that you liked it in the end. I have a few ideas for continuing this series into either a third installment or possibly several one-shot time stamps. I just need to actually sit down and write it down, without neglecting my other WIPs. Anyway--thank you for reading! 
> 
> Sabriel Forever!!

**Author's Note:**

> 🍭I am on Tumblr as crowley-loves-usuk if anyone feels the urge to follow or message me. I love talking to readers! 🍭


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